


How I fell for Scorpius Malfoy

by Anna_Elephant



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming of Age, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Mild Sexual Content, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Slow Burn, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 33,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23802535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_Elephant/pseuds/Anna_Elephant
Summary: "My parents have their faces printed on chocolate frog cards and their own chapters in history books. How on earth am I supposed to compete with that? There are things you're supposed to do, and protocols to follow. Neither breaking school rules nor getting drunk is one of them, especially when you're Head Girl - which makes it all the more intriguing. I appreciate the opportunity, so to speak."Rated M for specific chapters.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Rose Weasley
Comments: 37
Kudos: 69





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter canon by J. K. Rowling. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of JK Rowling. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. I do not profit from publishing this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Do you know that voice - the one which is very annoying and alerting in the back of your mind?

That voice that tells you that you are going to do something really stupid?

Well, I have to admit - although it's really unnerving, it has often prevented me from doing something I would have regretted later on.

If you think that I'm on the edge of reason - well, that's quite possible. It's a bit difficult to turn out normal with a family like mine. I think sanity is not really the right word to describe the Weasleys. Caring? Yes. Loyal. Yes. We're also quite funny. But sane? Not so much.

But where to start?

First, there's my Mum, who's probably the most intelligent witch in the world, but who has this obsession with books (she arranges them according to their first letters) and timetables.

Then my Dad. He's afraid of the tiniest spider and still blushes when someone mentions the name Lavender Brown. Whoever that is.

My little brother Hugo turned out to be a second George Weasley, but he also inherited my dad's fear of spiders, which is – honestly - just ridiculous.

Grandpa is also a very strange individual. I think he secretly worships Muggles. He nearly fainted when he used _Skype_ for the first time in his life. Mum decided it would be the best if he never did it again.

Grandma starts crying every time we're celebrating someone's birthday, because she thinks it's so touching. It took my Aunty Ginny two years to ensure Lily – my cousin - that there was no need to cry, because she started doing the same. When I was younger, I really had sympathy for Nana, but now at 18, I think it's just embarrassing. How was I to explain that to any friends or potential partners?

Then there's Uncle Percy who is the biggest nerd in person I've ever met in my whole life - even mum can't hold a candle to him, and his wife Audrey is the worst groupie you'll ever see. There's a picture of the Weird Sisters on her bedside locker, right beside the family portrait. How the two of them ended up together is a deep mystery to me. Maybe opposites do attract after all.

My Uncle Bill married someone French, which is fine, I guess. I just can't get over the fact that eating escargots is a thing there. I'm sorry, but that is very wrong on very many levels.

Oh, and the Potters…. Yes, _the_ Potters. Trust me, it would destroy your whole world view if you had to spend one single day with them. There's no day without James and Al doing something reckless, Aunty Ginny's outbursts and Uncle Harry's attempts to calm her. (If you ask me, James and Al just don't seem to hear that alerting voice. Either that or they simple choose to ignore it. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much tension at Potter's). And currently, their youngest kid Lily drives her Mum crazy with her burning ambition to save the world. She's vegetarian, because she doesn't want any animal to die for her. Oh, and she doesn't want the House Elves to tidy up her room. No wonder she's my Mum's favourite niece.

Don't get me wrong. I love my family. Deeply and dearly.

It's just that we're an interesting clan. Sometimes I think we need an event manager for our family reunions, because there are so damn many of us.

Wow, I think I got a bit distracted. Where was I?

Yeah, that tiny little voice. Do you know those silly scenes in Muggle movies, when the little angel and a little devil-thingy sitting on each of your shoulders and trying to tell you what to do?

It reminds me a bit of that. But it's not really the same…

Like I already said it often keeps me out of trouble.

When James and Al decided to dye Lily's hair blue while she was sleeping, the voice told me not to join then - even if it had been my idea. Lily was crying, Aunty Ginny was screaming, James and Al were too terrified to leave their rooms, Uncle Harry was pissed, and I was off the hook.

When Al and Dominique asked me to come with them smoking after curfew, the voice told me to stay in the dormitory - although it was me who stole the cigarettes out of James' pockets. They got caught – and believe me, getting detention for one month wasn't very nice, and the howlers they got two days later weren't either.

There were plenty of situations like those. I suppose if I hadn't listened to this annoying little voice, I wouldn't have become Head Girl.

Well, but somehow I realized, that there are moments in your life when you should not listen to your moralizer. Sometimes I regretted not having been part of Al's and James' stupid pranks. Sometimes I really felt like missing a lot of fun.

So I decided to ignore my lovely, little voice.

This is the story of me getting rid of it and learning what going with your guts feels like.

It's the story of how I fell for Scorpius Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Malfoy, what do you need?"  
> He sat down beside me at the Gryffindor table. "I was asking myself if you'd fancy a date tonight."

There are these days on which I'm really asking myself why the heck I even bothered to get up. That Friday in early December was such a day. The whole week was a mess, but on that day just everything seemed to go wrong. And that Friday happened to be the beginning of my story.

Okay, that's not really the truth. I could start with those precious memories of early September at King's Cross, when Dad told me not to get too friendly to Scorpius, the spawn of his nemesis Draco Malfoy.

Or maybe it would be interesting if I told you how we became partners for a project in Potions in our 4th Year and had our first real conversation with each other.

Or I could talk about that day in summer before 7th Year, when I received my Hogwarts letter, which said that Scorpius and I had become Heads.

Maybe that's all incredibly important.But I have never been a fan of this kind of detailed information. I'm quite sure you know these people who are about to tell you _the best story ever_ , start to chatter about something and ten minutes later you're still standing there, thinking to yourself, "What are you even talking about? For Merlin's sake, get to the point, you've lost my about five minutes ago."

So I have decided to start with that bloody Friday. The first milestone of my story. Our story.

I had had to do tons of homework the night before, and after I had been done with my stupid Head Girl duties and after about 4 hours of studying, I just had fallen asleep on my DADA essay. Actually I just had wanted to close my eyes for a few moments, but then I had started to slaver onto my notes.

In retrospect I'd say, that I took the whole Head Girl and N.E.W.T. thing – like everything in life – too bloody seriously. And incidents like these happened many times, when I come to think of it.

So after falling asleep at two o'clock in the morning it was bound to happen: Of course I overslept.

But it wasn't the "I´ll really have to hurry up if I want to get some breakfast" - kind of oversleeping. I woke up five minutes after my Transfiguration lesson had started.

I stared at my watch incredulously for about ten seconds. Slavering on my notes – yeah, that totally sounded like me. But being unpunctual? Me? Hermione Weasley's daughter? Never.

I think I beat some world record in an attempt to collect my things about five times faster than usual. I'm sure even Superman couldn´t hold a handle to me. I didn´t want to waste time, so I just picked up every book I could find, pushed the whole stuff into my bag and nearly stumbled over my own feet when I left my dorm.

I regretted my genius idea of taking every book of mine with m a few minutes later. Apparently my bag wasn´t used to such an amount of books, and before I knew was happening, all of them were spread across the floor.

Well, it wasn´t the floor actually. I was standing on one of the moving staircases.

Great. Just perfect.

While I was picking them up, somebody bent down to help me. I raised my head and looked right into the green eyes of David Johnson, a Ravenclaw who was in my year.

"Morning Rose. Why in such a hurry?"

Why in such a hurry? Jeez, this guy was pissing me off!

Okay. That sounds a bit rude – David´s a great guy. He's extremely nice and polite (maybe too polite), smart above all. But this was just not the right moment for a nice conversation after running over a nice Ravenclaw who happened to have one of his free studying lessons in the morning, while I was rushing through the whole castle.

Although I was just annoyed, something in the back of my mind told me to shut my mouth.

And I decided that this was the right choice. I mean, he was trying to help me and I was pissed off? What heck was wrong with me?

"I overslept. Would you mind…?"

"Oh sure," he replied quickly and handed me over my books. I looked at my bag, spoke a quick _Reparo_ , but I didn´t want to take the risk of ruining it again. So I carried my books with my bare hands. "Thanks David," I called and rushed away.

"Shall I help you with the books?"

I turned around again. "No, thanks, that's okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's okay. Really," I said. _Please don't make me yell at you,_ I thought.

"Oh, okay. You're very welcome, see you," he called after me. I had disappeared around the corner, but still heard his voice.

Wow. Some People are just too polite for their own good.

Well, and maybe I used to be like that too. Just one minute later I nearly bumped into a First Year. She was crying and all over the place, because she had gotten lost.

I mean… Seriously, it had been 3 months since her first day in Hogwarts. You'd think after three months a 11-year-old girl would be able to get to her class after three months. But no, apparently not…

The nicer part of me reminded me that I had been pretty much the same, so I explained the way to the DADA room very patiently. She beamed at me and rushed away happily.

So after the moving staircase incident, the little conversation with David and after my good deed for the day, I arrived at the Transfiguration classroom exactly 23 minutes too late. My attempts to get into class inconspicuously completely failed when I dropped my books once again. Everybody turned their head to me, and I felt myself blushing. It was utterly silent until my Transfiguration teacher exhaled scoffingly.

"Thanks Miss Weasley for joining us today. What a pleasure," he said.

I'd never known what his problem was, but he always had been teasing me.

"I'm so sorry, I – "

"Please spare us your pathetic apologies. Sit down."

What a prick

I quickly walked to my table back in the room and sat down next to my cousin Dominique.

"Where the hell have you been? I´m dying here out of boredom," she mumbled.

"Well, how awful for you," I whispered sarcastically. "I fell asleep over my homework last night, and – "

"Miss Weasley, if I were you, I'd be the last one to disturb the lesson," growled my professor.

It really wasn't my day.

My annoyance reached its peak around noon at the Gryffindor table. Terry Bleaker – the guy I'd had some kind of thing for in my 4th Year – handed me over a book, which I had apparently forgotten in the Transfiguration classroom.

"Nice choice of literature, Rose," he chuckled.

It really wasn't a good idea to carry take all my books with me. And the book I managed to forget just happened to be "Unshaken love" – some terribly cheesy novel about… Well, trust me, you don't want to know what it is about. It's just some random book I was given by Nana. Usually I read too much for my own good, as Dad put it once, but this book is a torture.

Apparently Terry had read a few pages. He was grinning at me.

Back in my 4th Year, I would have melted, if he just had looked at me. But that day I shot him an unkind glare and just snapped, "Thanks."

Bleaker was already walking away, while I still stared at the book and considered setting it on fire for a brief moment. I was definitely not going to miss it. Come to think of it, maybe my subconscious had left the book in that classroom on purpose, hoping that it would just vanish from the surface of the world. Of course Bleaker had to find it. I sighed and mumbled to myself, "Thanks for nothing."

"My pleasure," a very different voice answered from behind. My head spun around quickly. Scorpius Malfoy was standing right behind me. I sighed again.

"Malfoy, what do you need?"

He sat down beside me at the Gryffindor table. "I was asking myself if you'd fancy a date tonight." I arched an eyebrow and looked at him suspiciously. And then I realized…

"Oh no. Malfoy, please tell me you didn't."

He bit his lip. "I´m sorry. That Hufflepuff Prefect, the one with the weird nose–"

"Tommy Jones."

" – yep, him. He asked me if we could change our patrol duty. They have to do some kind of project for Astronomy, and-… Well, honestly, I didn't really listen. It had to do something with full moon. And that's tonight."

I was frustrated. Honestly, I started banging my head on the table.

"Well, I can tell him no, if you wanted," he said half-amusedly.

I lifted my head again. _Don´t be such a wimp. You're Head Girl, for Merlin's sake!_

"No, it´s okay."

Malfoy looked at me concernedly. "Are you sure? I could to this alone, if you – "

_That´s your duty as Head Girl_

"No, really. 8 o´clock, in the Entrance Hall?"

He nodded and stood up. "Look on the bright side - we´ll have a weekend off."

Instead of responding, I just sighed. That was quickly becoming a habit.

"And Rose… Go to your room and lie down. You really look like you'd need some sleep."

I frowned at him. He just grinned and walked away towards the Slytherin table.

Patrol duties on a Friday night. And on top of all, I was going to spend it with Scorpius Malfoy. That day was just becoming better and better.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> About seven people had told me that I looked like I needed a rest. Seriously, I swore to myself that I'd punch the next person who told me to lie down.

At half past five I collapsed onto my bed. The day seemed to last an eternity. About seven people had told me that I looked like I needed a rest. Seriously, I swore to myself that I'd punch the next person who told me to lie down.

In the afternoon I even thought about skipping classes – I was sure that Neville wouldn´t mind. I was interested in nothing but sleeping that day – even a special performance by the Chippendales couldn't have drawn my attention.

Okay. Actually I guess I never, ever would have been interested in the Chippendales. When the day comes on which I'd love to watch men dancing around in nothing but too tight panties and a bow-tie: Please go shoot me. Or hex me. I don't care.

Anyway, I didn't skip them. I never skipped classes.

But I had still about two hours left to relax and collect myself.

Two hours without thinking about any duties or about homework or anything.

Two hours.

Trust my stupid brother to ruin it.

I just had fallen asleep when somebody woke me up by knocking violently at the door of my dorm.

Well, first I thought I just dreamt it. I had this strange dream where I was sitting in the library, and there was a huge pile of books in front of me. Suddenly the protagonist of _Unshaken Love_ appeared out of nowhere, started knocking on the bookshelf impatiently and told me how I would fail my final exams if I didn´t read each and every one of them.

Actually I should have been kind of glad that somebody woke me up. Maybe Dad was right - maybe I really did read too much for my own good. But still… At least I was asleep.

I stumbled towards my door.

"There is my favourite sister!" My brother was grinning at me.

I frowned. "Hugo! What are you doing here?" Yeah, I know I was being rude, but that guy just had interrupted my precious nap.

"I thought I could pay my lovely sister a visit" he said. He walked over to my bed and sat down. I slammed the door and looked at him suspiciously. He never paid me a visit – or at least he never did without ulterior motives. Apart from the fact that he never called me lovely.

"How are you?" Hugo chirped.

"What do you want?"

"What?"

I ran my hand through my hair. "Hugo, I don´t have that much time. You are my brother. I know when you're up to something. And I know you didn't walk the whole way through the whole castle just to show up here and ask me how I am. So, what do you want?"

"Well, I´d need your help," he muttered sheepishly.

I put one hand on my chest theatrically. "Really? You caught me completely off-guard," I gasped all mock-offended.

He just ignored my comment and continued, "The thing is, that I didn´t manage to finish my essay for Ancient Runes. I really tried for about an hour – "

I raised my eyebrows at that.

"… okay, maybe it was just half an hour, but that's not the point at all. I'm just crap at that stuff, and I know that I can't get it right all by myself until tomorrow. It was already due until today, and Bingley told me to show him the essay tomorrow morning." He pulled out a scroll of parchment and looked at me expectantly.

"No Hugo, no way! I´ve got absolutely no time!"

"Rose, please. I'll owe you!"

"Look, I could help you and explain the complicated stuff, but there's no chance that I'm going to write that stupid essay for you. You just have to sit down and try again! I´m sure - "

"That's the problem. I don't have the time to sit down and try again. Danny and me, we´ve got detention. "Danny was Hugo´s best friend. They were as thick as thieves, and both had nothing on their minds but pranks. And girls, maybe.

"Again?" Mum would explode. "What did you do this time?" I couldn't hide my grin.

"Do you know Jessica Hale?"

I nodded. That chick was amazingly gorgeous. And she was as daft as a brush. Worse than that, she's a bit of a bully. But all those testosterone – controlled blokes in her year fancied the pants off her. It was almost pathetic.

"Danny asked her out. He had a crush on her for about four years." I would have thought that Danny had much better taste. Apparently not. "She said no. Which is fine, of course. But then she told him, that she would never want to date such an immature moron like him."

Well… Danny was immature. He was childish, and he was completely nuts - like my brother. But calling him a moron was out of bounds. Particularly if it was Jessica Hale who had the nerve to expose him like that – that girl had thought that the Thames was a Muggle Rock Band.

"After that I jinxed her perfume. She smelled like a bucket full of dragon dung – I think she nearly had a nervous breakdown."

I had to suppress a grin. Yeah, of course their behaviour was ludicrous. But you have to admit that it sounds like a lot of fun, and there was no serious harm down. I´d have loved to see her face.

"Now Danny and I got Detention for one week," Hugo said.

"- which you most definitely deserve," I countered.

"Yes, but it was definitely worthwhile," he answered with a cheeky smile.

We looked at each other for a few moments.

"Are you going to leave me alone if I say yes?" I didn´t want to waste more time. I knew that I was going to say yes at some point. This boy was a plague, and he wouldn't give in until I'd say yes.

Hugo jumped up and beamed at me, "Of course I will!"

I sighed, "Fine!"

"I love you, Rose. I have to hurry now. Neville is going to kill me if I'm late." He rushed out of my door, but then turned around once more and looked at me closely.

"And Sis?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you should lie down. You really look like you'd need a rest…"

I was going to punch him.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly he started smirking.
> 
> "Don't get me started on you. What are you grinning about?" I snapped.
> 
> He chuckled and shook his head slightly. "You're just really scary when you're upset, that's all."

A few hours later, Scorpius Malfoy and I were still walking through the whole castle, doing our rounds.

It had taken me one hour to finish Hugo's stupid essay. It had not been difficult, but I just hadn´t managed to concentrate anymore, which I found even more annoying. And because of that stupid essay I had been late. Again. I just hated being unpunctual.

But Malfoy didn't really seem to care. Either that or he had the courtesy not to complain about it. That was something that had surprised me quite a bit: For a Malfoy he was someone to get along with quite easily. I admit… I had always been kind of prejudiced. I had known that his family had played a significant part in Voldemort's fellowship.

But from all that I could tell at that point, I figured that Draco Malfoy and his son seemed to be quite different from each other. Dad had always told me that Scorpius' father had been rich, arrogant, sneaky, cunning and deceitful, and he had always wanted to be in the spotlight.

Okay, the Malfoys are still obnoxiously rich, due to the fact that they had inherited a fortune by their ancestors. And Scorpius had always been a bit arrogant. This runs in the Malfoy bloodline, as being dreamy runs in the Lovegood one, and on some days it still drives me nuts. He was fairly popular, given he was Head Boy, but he had never been one of those people who desperately needed to be the centre of attention. Quite the opposite was true – he often withdrew from any sort of big attention. I would later learn that had a lot to do with his family history and the way some people acted around him because of his name.

Come to think of it - I was surprised and a bit annoyed when I heard that Scorpius Malfoy had become Head Boy. Yes, of course, he was smart and had excellent grades, but everybody had supposed that Albus Potter or David Johnson would become Head Boy. But Al had already been Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and David Johnson was probably a little bit too insecure to be Head Boy. Compared to David, Malfoy had always been ambitious, confident and he apparently, he had always known what he had wanted. He was definitely a Malfoy, but he had never been sneaky, or cunning, or deceitful.

Scorpius looked at his watch. "We've got about half an hour left," he pointed out, to which I yawned in response. He looked at me. "Tired?"

"You can say that again," I mumbled, "I have been dreaming of going back to bed the minute I got out of it today. Stop laughing," I snarled when he started chuckling.

"I am sorry," he grinned, showing that he was not very sorry at all. "I do think we could cut our patrols a little bit short though. It's a Friday night after all, no one's going to care." That was music in my tiny and very tired ears, so we started heading back.

It was in some corridor in the north wing of the castle, when he froze. He had stopped so abruptly that I bumped into him.

"What the – " I snapped, but Malfoy silenced me. What the heck was wrong with him?

I looked at him warily.

"Listen, would you?" he said.

First I wanted to ask him, if he was going crazy, but then I heard it too. Somebody was laughing.

This was something that happened quite often – a bunch of students, who thought that spending Friday night in the Common Room was far too boring, met in one of the deserted classrooms – after curfew.

We walked over to the classroom where the noise came from. He sighed, pulled out his wand and looked at me. "Shall we?" he asked, before I nodded. And I had thought that that evening had finally gotten to an end….

Malfoy and I mumbled a quick _Lumos_ and opened the door.

The room got completely quite. A couple of dazzled Fifth-Years were looking at us in shock. I recognized my cousin Lily, her friends Coretta Adams and Alice Green, Danny and …

…. Hugo. My stupid jerk of a brother. The one you had sweet-talked me into finishing his essay a few hours earlier. He was holding a bottle of Firewhiskey, and suddenly his hand started shaking. "Hey Sis," he attempted cheerfully, but the delivery was all off.

Under normal circumstances I would have been disappointed.

But all I felt was anger. Pure, packed anger.

Seriously, I thought that I was going to kill that little bastard.

"HUGO! What the fuck are you doing here?!" This seemed to be a bit familiar, didn't it?

"Easy Rosie, try to calm down – "

"Don´t Easy Rosie me! And I will not calm down!" How dare he? "Please tell me one good reason why I shouldn't castrate you right now."

"Look, Rose, it's Alice's birthday, and we wanted to celebrate a bit. You're just turning 15 once in your life, you know," Hugo argued as if that fact justified anything at all.

"I don´t care who's birthday it is! Are you totally nuts? Do you even know what Filch would have done to you, if he had caught you?! For Merlin's sake, that´s something you could be expelled for! Please tell me how you would explain _that_ to Mum or Dad!"

Hugo looked at me angrily. "Now Rose, could you please calm down again? Nothing happened, okay? It's just you."

"Jeez, you just don't get it, do you? What do you want me to do now? God damn it, you lied to me, you ungrateful, little idiot!"

Hugo's face turned the darkest shade of red you could think of. I was sure I was looking exactly the same. It's this stupid characteristic we've inherited from our father – turning completely red when we're completely embarrassed or infuriated.

"Yeah, and do you know why? You would have never said you'd help me if I had said that I had wanted to celebrate Alice's birthday!" What was he thinking? Did he even realize what I had to do and think about the whole day? I had better things to do than doing my brother's homework so that he could go and amuse himself.

"Of course I would have said no! Mum would explode if she knew about this!"

He screwed up his eyes. "You know what? Even Mum broke plenty of rules – you´re the only one who makes such a fuss over things like this, just because you´re a boring, prude and uptight bitch!"

That was quite a few steps too far. I was utterly thunderstruck.

We often argued, and we often insulted each other. He had never ever called me something like that. Even he looked totally shocked, as if he just perceived what he had said.

Someone cleared their throat. "Erm… 50 points from Gryffindor – 10 for each one of you. Go back to your dorms," Sorpius said. " _Right now,_ " he growled when Danny opened his mouth, apparently to protest the fact that the Slytherin Head Boy had just withdrawn precious Gryffindor housepoints.

Wow, for a brief moment I had totally forgotten about the six other people in the room. I even had forgotten about Lily… I was used to the fact that my brother is constantly up to something stupid, but Lily had never been into something like that. Apparently she was far less mature than I gave her credit for.

Malfoy had been the first who found his tongue. Lily and her friends looked as if they were going to cry. Danny stood motionless, but then seemed to decide that getting lost probably would be the best idea. He dragged Hugo out of the room and just mumbled a quick "Goodnight" when he passed Malfoy, who was now leaning at the doorframe. The girls stormed after them. Lily turned around and shot me an apologetic glance. She seemed as if she wanted to say something, but her one of the girls called after her, and so she left the room.

And then we were alone.

I sat onto one of the chairs. I was on the edge of crying – not because I was sad. I was angry, I was frustrated, and I felt the strange urge to smash something. What was wrong with that little prat? What did he expect me to do when I caught them? Join the party?

Scorpius looked at me. He seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable. That's something that hasn't changed over all the years. He had never been good at dealing with people who're on the verge of crying or at expressing his own feelings. Yeah, it sounds totally like a cliché. But trust me: He really has no clue when it comes to things like that.

Suddenly he started smirking.

"Don't get me started on you. What are you grinning about?" I snapped.

He chuckled and shook his head slightly. "You're just really scary when you're upset, that's all."

I shot him an angry glance, but he came closer sat down in front of me. "Rose. They're just 15. Don't take it that seriously."

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. "Malfoy, what do you want me to do now? What the heck am I going to do with that stupid Firewhiskey?"

He shrugged, longed after the bottle, which was still on the table. I continued complaining about my predicament while he observed the label. "What the hell am I going to do now? I can´t just go to Nev… to Longbottom. What should I even say? _Sorry, Professor… I caught my stupid brother, my cousin and their friends with a bottle of Firewhiskey… Would it be possible not to mention any of that to my parents?_ "

But Malfoy interrupted my monologue. "Weasley? Where the hell did your brother get this stuff?" He sounded quite impressed.

"How the fuck should I know? Do I look like a psychic? I´m not even interested where he got it. I'm the one, who has to get rid of it!" I cried.

"No, you don't understand. That's one of the finest Firewehiskey in whole Scotland! I mean, it's no Ogden's, but that one's overrated anyway. It costs a fortune." He looked at me. "It would be a pity to _get rid of it_ …"

"As inspiring and impressive I find your suspiciously detailed opinion on Firewhiskey brands… What do you want to do now? Having a party on your own?" I demanded.

"For instance…"

"Very funny, I die of laughter."

"I'm not joking."

"Oh please, be serious."

He was still looking at me expectantly.

"Merlin… You are serious."

He nodded and grinned conspiratorially.

"Are you going nuts?"

"Rose, what are you planning to do? If you bring it to Longbottom, he´ll want to know, where you found it. How are you going to explain that?" He argued and I hated to admit it, he made a lot of sense.

"Well, I´m going to lie – I thought that's obvious," I replied. Only problem with that was that I'm not a good liar.

He smirked, not looking convinced at all. "Yeah, sure - you could come up with some lame ass excuse that Longbottom will probably see right through, but just accept anyway, because he likes you. But trust me, this would be a total waste of resources."

We stared at each other for a few moments. Then I sighed.

"Okay, you know what? Just take it, without ever wasting any words on it. If you get caught, this is all on you. And if you even think about mentioning my name, I will hunt you down," I threatened.

He smirked, not looking at all bothered. "Thanks, Weasley". Malfoy stood up. Then he looked at me again.

"Do you wanna join me? You really look like you'd need… distraction."

I stared at him, but I didn't say anything. I was a bit too taken aback by his offer. Also, I could not tell if he was serious or not. When the silence became awkward, he just said, "Thanks, again… Good night, Rose."

Malfoy walked over to the door. His hand was already on the doorknob.

"Wait!" I called after him. He turned around again.

"Was that a serious offer? Or are you just trying to be polite?"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and noted, "Let me assure you that forced politeness is not something I do. I would not have asked, if getting _Yes_ for an answer had bothered me. So, yeah – that was a serious offer."

I closed my eyes for a brief moment, took a short breath and stood up. "Is that offer still on?"

All of a sudden, Scorpius Malfoy looked incredibly pleased. "Of course it is, Weasley."

"Perfect. Where are we going? Please tell me it's something more subtle than another empty classroom," I noted while walking towards him.

Scorpius laughed. "Please, give me more credit than that. Although hiding that you had anything to do with that bottle of Firewhiskey is going to be much more difficult now, in case we get caught."

"Oh, shut up, would you?"


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I mean, how much harm could be possibly done by having fun? Besides, there was something else stirring deep inside of me. Something I had successfully ignored and shut away for a very long time. Back then I could not pin down what it was, and it took me a while to figure out that this was what going with your gut meant. Trust Scorpius Malfoy to bring that out of me.

Maybe I really needed some distraction from all these different things I had on my mind.

Maybe I was afraid of being alone on a Friday night after a week that had turned out to be one of the most emotionally draining in a very long time.

Maybe it was because of my argument with Hugo, maybe I only wanted to prove him wrong and was just very eager to convince myself that I was not boring, prude and uptight.

Probably it was a weird combination of all of those things mentioned above that led me to take Scorpius' offer.

But as soon as I said that I was going to join him and followed him to his dorm, I started to regret my decision. Why in Merlin's name did I approve of that? This was the question I was asking myself over and over again while we were walking to the east wing of the castle, where his dorm was located. It made sense that we chose one of our dorms to have a drink. The chance that anyone, fellow student or professor, would possibly decide to show up in the middle of the night at one of them was incredibly low. Still, it was quite risky. So, again: Why in Merlin's name did I approve of that?

My inner voice was practically screaming at me. It was the weirdest cloak-and-dagger operation I had ever been involved in, it was plain lunatic, and yes – I do know that I was a complete hypocrite. I mean, first I condemned Hugo and his irresponsible behaviour, and after that I went out and about to get drunk myself.

Okay, actually I didn't plan to get drunk. I really didn´t – I just was not very aware of my very low level of alcohol tolerance. How could I have possibly known? I had used to be Dominique's or Al's babysitter whenever they had been up for shenanigans. But I could have guessed that drinking Firewhiskey when you were absolutely not used to alcohol was basically a kamikaze operation. Well… At least I know that now.

But at some point I decided, that I didn't care. I told my inner moralizer to shut up. I mean, _how much harm could be possibly done by having fun?_ Besides, there was something else stirring deep inside of me. Something I had successfully ignored and shut away for a very long time. Back then I could not pin down what it was, and it took me a while to figure out that this was what _going with your gut_ meant. Trust Scorpius Malfoy to bring that out of me. There is something about him that makes me utterly carefree at times. In retrospect, I think it was the lack of expectations at first that sparked this mutual air of trust between us. No one had to prove anything. We were two teenagers, doing things that any teenager would do.

"So here we are," Scorpius said when we had reached his dorm. " _Onopordum_ ," he muttered. The painting in front of his door swung open.

" _Onopordum_? I have never heard that one before," I commented.

"It's the Latin name for a thistle." 

"Interesting choice for a password. Longbottom would be very proud." 

He smiled slightly. "I just like things that show a high level of… robustness."

I looked around his room, after we had entered. Apparently the Head Boy's dorm was built exactly like mine. It looked very similar, despite the fact that all the curtains and covers were green, and it was a tad messier than mine.

Then again, messy is a relative conception. Compared to my room, every room looks messy – I was brought up by the most organized witch of the century. Compared to James' or Al's room- … Well, let's not go there.

Malfoy tilted his head. "Erm… Are you going to sit down or do you prefer standing around?"

I sighed and collapsed onto his bed. I felt exhausted.

Malfoy sat beside me, evoked two small glasses with a lazy movement of his wand and filled them with Firewhiskey. I sat up, took the one glass he handed over and observed its content very thoroughly. I hoped that this stuff wasn´t that strong. Very vivid images of Al's birthday party the summer before popped up in my head. Dominique had way too much of Firewhiskey and had to throw up in her own bedroom. I had never seen my Uncle Bill that infuriated.

But I wasn't that naïve and careless, was I? (Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes I was.)

Malfoy raised his glass, and so did I. "Cheers, Weasley." He grinned at me.

"Cheers," I murmured and downed the whiskey. It was strong, it burnt down my throat, but he had been absolutely right: This stuff was amazing. It tasted so much better than I had expected.

"Woah - easy, Weasley!"

I shot him a glare. "Do not _Easy, Weasley_ me, Malfoy! I've heard that before." Really, I had enough of boys trying to calm me down.

He grinned. "Whatever you say. You're a grown-ass woman, and responsible for yourself, but just a quick heads-up: This stuff is stronger than it tastes." He poured me another glass.

This was definitely going to be interesting.

Actually I had expected that the evening would be a bit awkward. I had expected that neither of us would know what to talk about. But we seemed to get along with each other pretty easily. Apparently we had more in common then I had thought.

First of all, he didn't like Quidditch very much. He loved watching games, but he was absolutely untalented. The same goes for me. I've been afraid of flying since I'd fallen off a broom when I had been six years old.

"Even my Uncle Percy's daughters are suckers for Quidditch – and I think Percy hadn't touched a broom since he had been to Hogwarts. But apart from him every member of my family is playing Quidditch," I babbled.

Yes, I know - I tend to ramble a bit too much when I´m tipsy.

But Scorpius didn't seem to be bothered at all. Au contraire, he actually listened to me.

I can't remember everything we were talking all the time. Alcohol does very strange things to people. I told him many things which I wouldn't even have considered telling him if I hadn't been drunk. About six glasses of whiskey later I was complaining about my fight with Hugo. Again.

"You really shouldn't think about it that much, you know," he said all of a sudden, "Just forget it. Believe me, puberty is an awful phase for guys at his age. I'm not sure that I've grown out of it", he said and grinned, before he took another sip of his Firewhiskey.

He looked at me contemplatively. "Maybe he was just that angry because he´s got a crush on one of those chicks who were with him."

"Or maybe it's just because he's an arse," I replied.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh, you'd never think what a bloke would do to impress a girl, Rosie."

"Enlighten me. And don´t you dare to call me Rosie ever again," I didn't really like that nickname, although I didn´t tell anyone. Everyone else seemed to adore it. My dad always used it. I didn't mind that much when he was using it, but it made me feel like I was still twelve years old.

He reminisced. "When I was 14, I was totally into that girl living in the apartment next door."

I frowned. "You're living in an apartment?" I asked.

"No, but my parents own a flat near Diagon Alley; and … our neighbour was absolutely gorgeous. She was my first crush since I had been in Primary School."

I had to grin. Scorpius Malfoy told me about his personal love life. Yep, that guy was definitely intoxicated.

"There's a park near the building, and she always used to sit there and read. She was a sucker for obscure Muggle literature. I didn't have the guts to talk to her, so I went into a Muggle store and bought a book by one of the authors I had seen her reading. Unfortunately that was the first time I bought anything in a Muggle store. It was totally embarrassing. The guy working there thought I was such a weirdo. I could tell by the confused looks he gave me."

My grin became wider.

"Two days after I had bought the book I saw her walking through Diagon Alley with a boy… hand in hand." He sighed dramatically. I laughed.

"So, tell me, how did you handle your traumatizing heartbreak?"

"I came over it… eventually. The only side effect being that I also got into obscure Muggle literature."

He was not lying. There was an exemplar of Tolkiens _Hobbit_ on his bed locker. Very interesting.

"Scorpius Malfoy is reading Muggle books. You learn something new every day," I murmured.

"Well, what did you expect? Witch Weekly?" He scoffed.

"No, I just haven't thought of you as someone who reads Muggle fiction, that's all."

Scorpius shrugged. "I find their imagination rather fascinating. Magic just creeps into their stories, which makes me think that the Statute of Secrecy is such a farçe."

I contemplated his statement for a moment, before I answered, "That is a very interesting point. I've never thought about it that way."

Scorpius looked rather pleased with himself, took another small sip, and asked, "If you didn't think of me as much of a Muggle fiction reading type of person… What kind of guy did you think I was?"

"The _Let´s go and get drunk with the bottle of Firewhiskey we´ve just confiscated guy_ kind of guy," I answered like a shot

He grinned. "Yep, that totally sounds like me."

"Glad we agree on that one," I noted.

"You know, Weasley, I honestly have to say: You do surprise me a little bit."

"Why is that?" I was wondering what he was on about.

"Don't get me wrong - I don't consider you to be boring… or prude…. or uptight."

I frowned at him. "I don't need you to repeat my brother's lovely description of myself, thank you very much."

He simply passed over my comment. Why did everybody ignore my comments?

"I know you're not all rational, I've known your temper too well. You can be impulsive if you want to. But this - whatever it is we're doing right now? That's new."

"Well, that was all your idea, wasn't it?" I pointed out.

"I know it was. I just… I didn't expect you to agree to this. Not in my wildest dreams. And I'm just glad you did." His grin was a rather cheeky one, and I could not stop from grinning as well.

"Me too."

"Why did you though? Agree to do this, I mean."

"Honestly? I don't know. I guess, I just… Felt like agreeing," I said slowly. "I felt like… doing something just for the sake of it, not because anyone expects me to. I think I just snapped tonight."

"Boy, do I feel flattered now," Malfoy commented.

I laughed slightly, but tried to come up with a more eloquent explanation of what I meant. I tried to put into words what was bothering me so much at that time.

See, the thing is… Being the daughter of famous parents – famous war heroes - definitely puts pressure on you. My parents had their faces printed on chocolate frog cards, for crying out loud. And my mother was a very likely candidate for the position of the Minister of Magic. Albus has always been better at dealing with being Harry Potter's son than me being Ronald and Hermione Weasley's daughter. I think Uncle Harry had done a really good job of teaching his kids how to be themselves and not giving a damn about what other people were thinking. He was speaking from experience after all.

"It might be only in my head," I continued, keeping my eyes down and staring at the green blanket of Scorpius' bed, "but I have this constant feeling that I am not allowed to fail. Anyone or anything at all. I feel like I am constantly being monitored. My parents have their faces printed on chocolate frog cards and their own chapters in history books. How on earth am I supposed to compete with that? There are things you're supposed to do, and protocols to follow. Neither breaking school rules nor getting drunk is one of them, especially when you're Head Girl - which makes it all the more intriguing. I appreciate the opportunity, so to speak."

When I looked up at Scorpius, I found him staring at me. I couldn't read his expression. His face was a closed book, until he spoke up.

"I think I get it, kind of. I have this constant feeling that people around me just wait for me to screw up and fail - as if I'm supposed to turn into a mass murderer, because of the pureblood worshipping lunatics that I happened to be related to. I mean, it's different, I know. But it feels familiar at the same time."

That was it. That was the first thing we bonded over – having an infamous family and trying to live up to some stupid standard to prove others that there was more behind us than our parents' history. It's quite hilarious, if you think about it - that kids from completely different backgrounds were suffering from the same outcome. Back then I just did not realize how much pain it had always caused him, though.

"That is… fascinating," I noted.

"Yep, it is," Malfoy agreed, "I'd say we should drink to that."

He refilled our glasses and raised his one.

"To our famous families," he mumbled bitterly.

"Cheers to that."

And that was the moment I realized that I had drunk a bit too much. A huge amount too much. I dropped my glass and spilled that stupid whiskey onto my Hogwarts uniform. Malfoy seemed to be quite amused. He started chuckling.

"Oh, shut up, Malfoy," I tried to pull off my sweater, but apparently my coordination was quite out of hand. "Make yourself useful and help me out of my clothes."

For obvious reasons, that made him laugh even harder. I guess I can´t blame him. At least the serious tension was all gone now. Anyway, he did help me out of my sweater – and only out of the sweater. And yes, I had been wearing something else underneath it. My Hogwarts blouse, if you must know. Any more questions?

"Well, that's definitely not part of the protocol, is it?" Scorpius said huskily.

I realized that I had never been that close to him. We were just about a dozen inches apart. His hair was falling right into his left eye.

"I like your hair," I babbled.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow and smirked at me mischievously. I really wanted to kill myself.

"Erm, I'm sorry. It was not part of my plan to say that out loud," I quickly added. _Smooth. Really smooth, Rose._

Scorpius huffed and looked at me as if he was trying to figure something out. "How drunk are you right now?"

"Yes," I answered, "I mean… A fairly good amount, I'd say."

His eyes wandered all over my face. Then, he stared at my lips. "Are you still sober enough to tell me off or hex me into oblivion if I do something you don't want me to?"

"I would not trust myself with a wand right now, but telling you to shove it? Most definitely."

Scorpius laughed and moved a little bit closer. I felt my face heating up, because I knew exactly where this was going, and I really liked it.

"Good," he whispered, before pressing his lips on mine.


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being drunk and kissing someone at the same time is also a bit of a challenge, if you ask me. Your coordination is all off, your head is spinning - it just makes more sense when you are sober and in command of all your mental faculties.

Okay, just let me get a few things straight, before anyone starts drawing the wrong conclusions.

First of all: I did not sleep with Scorpius that night.

I mean, I'm not one of those people who dream of their fuzzy, blissfully perfect first time and being happy until the end of time. I don't believe in _the_ perfect guy who's going to deflower you at _the_ perfect moment at _the_ perfect place. Stupid novels like _Unshaken Love_ have blurred our vision of reality. That's a fact, deal with it.

Then again I had always thought that I'm not one of those people who go and get drunk with Scorpius Malfoy of all people. So imaging one thing just leading to the other would probably not be that bizarre. But still, not the point. The point is that I didn´t sleep with Scorpius Malfoy. Therefore you can put your ideas right out of your dirty mind.

Just let me repeat it to make sure you get it absolutely right: _I. Did. Not. Sleep. With. Scorpius. Malfoy._ At least not that night, but that's a different story.

Second of all: When I said that I was going to join him, I didn't exactly expect we would end up snogging on his bed. Not that I minded. It was just… unexpected. There, I said it. I hadn't expected it, that's why it was unexpected. 

When his lips first touched mine, I was so nervous. Seriously, I was like some frozen statue, and my heart seemed to have skipped some beats. Being drunk and kissing someone at the same time is also a bit of a challenge, if you ask me. Your coordination is all off, your head is spinning - it just makes more sense when you are sober and in command of all your mental faculties. Not that I am complaining that he kissed me. _Au contraire._ I was very happy about it.

I had not kissed anyone for quite a while - I had been dating from time to time, but my last boyfriend and I had broken up ages before. It was just not something on the top of my priority list. So basically I felt as if had never done it before.

Scorpius Malfoy, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what he was doing. His lips were soft, and they were moving slowly against mine. He tasted like mint and Firewhiskey.

I think he could tell that I was nervous and mentally all over the place.

"So," he mumbled, "Is that part of the protocol?"

I don't know if he had intended to make me laugh, but I could not stop myself from chuckling, and basically, that did the trick. I felt him grinning against my lips, I stopped thinking, and every rational thought was simply wiped from my mind, when his hand found my messy curls and he carefully deepened the kiss.

* * *

The only problem was: I did not remember exactly what happened next. First I thought that we had just fallen asleep somewhere along the line.

But I do remember the next morning - way too clearly actually.

I woke up quite early because I was not used to the amount of sunlight that illuminated his dorm. My dorm was located in the western part of the castle, which basically meant that it was relatively dark most of the time.

So when I opened my eyes I looked right into bright sunlight. Usually it takes me ages to get fully awake. That time it was almost as if you emptied a bucket of ice-cold water right above my head. Speaking of which - there was this horrible pain torturing my head, and this weird feeling that my stomach was turned upside down. I sat up slowly – partly because my head was killing me, partly because I was afraid I was going to throw up – and looked around.

It took me a while to realize where I was, but when I spotted the green curtains, Scorpius Malfoy right beside me _on his bed_ , his dishevelled clothes, his messy hair and my _half-opened_ blouse, the amount of everything crashed right down on me.

"Oh bollocks," I muttered under my breath.

This _had_ to be a weird dream.

Bloody hell…. I had kissed Scorpius Malfoy.

And he had kissed me back. Or the other way round… Not important. But Merlin - if my head hadn't already hurting that much, I would have banged it against a wall. I had to get up. I desperately needed to get away from there, so I stood up quickly. As soon as I was on my feet, I regretted it – I had problems with standing steadily.

I carefully picked up my sweater, which had been lying on the floor. I felt like a newborn deer - slowly stumbling towards the door, trying desperately not to wake him. Mainly, because he had looked so peaceful while asleep that I could not bring myself to disturb him. Also, I was afraid that I looked worse than I felt. And there was really no need for anyone to see me like that.

Somehow, I managed to get to my dorm unseen and without waking Scorpius. It was already time for breakfast, so I guess everyone was there right then. Although traditionally nothing could stop me from eating, I didn't care at all about breakfast, because... honestly - if I had eaten just one bite, it wouldn't have stayed where it should have.

I felt terrible. My clothes were reeking, I was tired as hell, and I looked like a zombie. If you ever get up after a night of heavy drinking: Don't look into the mirror before having a shower – you will regret it. I was almost scared of myself. All I wanted to do was sleeping, but instead the memories of the previous night were racing through my head.

 _What_ _the hell_ _were you thinking?_ Oh nice, my inner voice was back.

I just felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable, because I had never kissed a guy just on a whim. Well, actually I hadn't kissed him… I mean… He had kissed me!

_And you kissed him back, duh!_

"Oh, shut up!" I muttered to myself. After one hour of mentally kicking myself, I finally drifted off.

* * *

My nap lasted for a few hours until somebody was knocking at my door.

"Jeez, you look like the living dead!" Dominique exclaimed when I opened the door.

I winced. "For Fuck's sake, Weasley! Keep your voice down! I´m not that much into loud noises right now…"

Dominique walked into my room, sat onto my bed and looked at me suspiciously. I must have looked terrible."What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Well, basically I just wanted to make sure that you're still alive. I didn't see you at breakfast, and when you didn´t show up at lunch either, I decided to look after you." I sighed and sat down beside her. "Are you alright? You look like shit," my cousin noted.

"You've got such a nice choice of words, Dominique."

"Yeah, whatever. So, what's wrong?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but then I hesitated. I wasn´t sure if I wanted to tell her. A part of me wanted to pour my heart out, another part just wanted her to go away, crawl back into bed and curl into a ball. The second one was much bigger. So I lied, which I hated doing.

"I don't know. I guess I just caught a tummy bug," I muttered guiltily.

"Oh…" Dominique looked at me sympathetically. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Now I felt even more miserable for lying to her. Dominique told me almost everything. Every mistaken step, every wrong movement, everything she had ever screwed up. And believe me… She had done a lot of screwing up.

"Erm, no thanks, I'm going to be okay."

"Go back to bed, I'm going to leave you alone…. You really look like you'd need some sleep."

I just nodded. Then she stood up. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you're utterly hungover," she said, slightly frowning.

 _Oh bollocks._ "Don't be ridiculous, Dom." Thank Merlin she didn't see me blushing.

* * *

Since this weird feeling in my stomach refused to go away, and because I was not ready to face Scorpius Malfoy just yet, I decided to skip dinner too. Dominique probably had told everyone I was sick – so I really needed to get away from my dorm. I didn´t want to lie to any other of my relatives who would come to look after me, or scream at those who would want me to do their homework. And then it slowly dawned on me. None of that would have ever happened, if Hugo hadn't been such a jerk. So avoiding Hugo was another good reason to skip dinner.

Basically I was avoiding each and every person of Hogwart's student body.

I thought about going for a walk, but the pouring rain upset my plans. Now tell me… Which one is the only place in Hogwarts where nobody wants to spend his Saturday evening?

Exactly: The library.

Here I was - sitting in a library, staring out the window rather than doing my Charms essay.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" someone said and broke the silence. I gasped and spun around.

"For Merlin's sake, Malfoy… You just scared me to death!"

"Sorry about that. I didn't think you were so easy to unsettle." He grinned and slid into the chair right in front of me. My heart kept beating furiously, because those vivid memories came back to mind. There was a reason why I was avoiding him after all. I felt my face turning red. Stupid Weasley blush.

"What are you doing here?" I said a bit more harshly than necessary, because I didn't like the effect he had on me right there and then.

"Erm. Actually I just came to talk to you," he seemed to feel a bit uncomfortable. "Since you haven't been in your dorm, I came looking for you here… Given you spend most of your spare time here."

I was a bit taken aback by that. "How would you know?" I asked.

"I am very observant," he said and grinned. "I do my homework here almost every day, you´re just too distracted to notice other people, apparently," he added when I looked at him suspiciously. "I hope you don't plan to become an Auror. You would not last more than twenty minutes." He did have a point. Being in the library meant being in my own world, where no-one else existed.

Silence befell us. That turned out to become a bit awkward, which is exactly why I had been so keen on avoiding him before. I had just not been ready to deal with that whole situation, because frankly, it was a bit bloody scary. I did know though that sneaking out had not been a fine move. So I decided to apologize for that.

"I am sorry for-," I trailed off and sighed. "I am sorry I left without a word in the morning. I did not want to wake you, and besides, I felt terrible and needed some time to myself."

Malfoy huffed. "Nothing wrong with that," he said, "I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay. You had me a bit worried, honestly."

"Oh," I said surprised.

"So, are you alright?" he asked.

"The headache has become better, but my stomach is still killing me."

He smirked. "Yeah, no wonder after puking your guts out…"

"I did _what_?!" I almost yelled at him. All my nervousness and second thoughts about snogging him were blown away in an instant. He looked quite frightened, as if he regretted telling me about it.

"You… you don't remember?" he asked incredulously.

"Is this the face of a person who looks like she remembers?" I spluttered in panic, "What happened?"

"Nothing serious - we had already been dozing off, and suddenly you mumbled something about … well… feeling sick," he told me hesitantly.

"Please tell me, you're just messing with me!"

Malfoy started smirking again. "I swear, I'm not."

Then it slowly dawned on me. I remember sitting on the floor of his bathroom. "Oh, bollocks," I muttered and pinched the bridge of my nose. I must have looked kind of terrified, because he said, "Come on, Weasley. It's not even a big deal. We drank bit too much, you ended up in my bathroom, end of story. We're in this together. I won't tell anyone, unless I want to have my Head Boy badge removed, I promise."

"Yeah, thanks for that," I murmured, feeling completely mortified.

"Now, I see this has been sufficiently awkward for you," he mused, "Do you want me to leave you alone to let that sink for a second?" It was obvious that he found this whole situation hilarious.

"Yes, please," I pressed.

"Well then, enjoy your Saturday evening, Weasley," he said cheerfully and stood up to leave.

When he was gone I started banging my head on the table. If this wasn't embarrassing, I don't know what it was.


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a certain air of comfortable trust around each other. We had, after all, shared things about ourselves that are usually not mentioned casually during afternoon tea.

"Rose, I can't do this! I don't get any of this," Dominique cried and clapped her book shut. Ms Belby - the elegant, but very serious and easily irritated librarian - glared at us.

"Could you at least try to keep your voice down?" I shushed my desperate looking cousin. Taking her to the library of all places to help her with her translation for Ancient Runes had been a bad idea. I should have known better. "If you want to get kicked out of the library, do it on your own terms and your own time. This is my safe space," I stated.

Dominique sighed. "I know and I am sorry. This is just… so incredibly frustrating. I'm going to fail our final exams because of this," she complained.

"You won't fail. The exams won't take place until June," I retaliated. People always tended to make such a fuss about Ancient Runes. Sure, it is definitely not the most exciting subject Hogwarts has to offer, but not the most difficult either. We had been sitting in the library for about an hour, and we had not gotten a single step forward. To be honest, I had started to lose my patience with her.

Don't get me wrong. Dominique is a bright witch. In fact, my cousin is one of the smartest people I know. She sees right through anyone she's known for more than ten minutes, if she wants to. Plus, she's a natural at Charms, always has been. Her only problem at Hogwarts was that she could not bring herself to make an effort at anything that was even remotely boring to her. It had never been about being smart. The issue was that Dominique Weasley had the work ethic of a 65-year-old public official that was about to retire.

"…which is even worse, because that means I have to endure this for another six months. Six months, Rose! This feels like Muggle Primary School all over again," she commented on my earlier remark.

"Okay, this is leading us to absolutely nowhere. You've just spent one hour complaining about your homework. You could have finished at least half an hour ago, and you haven't even tried to understand it yet," I argued, "and don't tell me that this is too hard, because I know for a fact that anytime you actually sat down and gave it more than five minutes of thought before, you were perfectly able to do it all by yourself. Because you're incredibly smart. And also, lazy as fuck," I added, when she tried to interrupt me.

Dominique remained silent and looked at me as if she wanted to hex me. Then she sighed and opened her book again. "I hate when you do that," she muttered.

"Do what exactly?" I asked bewildered.

"When you tell me that you think I am smart. And that you believe I can do it all on my own. It makes me feel guilty for not giving a damn about this and not trying hard enough," she mumbled angrily, before concentrating on the piece of parchment in front of her. I smirked - I was rather proud of her, and very pleased with myself as well.

"Thanks. For being my voice of reason," she concluded.

"That's a bit of an overstatement, but I'll take it anyway. You're welcome," I replied, feeling a little uncomfortable, all of a sudden.

My gaze fell on Scorpius Malfoy who had been sitting a table away from us all of this time. It was not exactly his presence that made me anxious, but rather Dominique's statement that felt so very much out of place at that moment. He was the living and breathing proof that my actions could be completely devoid of reason, if I wanted to.

I looked at him a tad longer than what I usually would have considered appropriate. Scorpius was bent over a book, seemingly lost in whatever he had been reading, wearing a rather serious look on his face and slightly frowning. He looked way more grown-up than usual, even though he chewed on his quill absent-mindedly. His hair had grown fairly long since September, and from time to time, he pushed it back into place when it had fallen over his eyes.

Scorpius Malfoy and I, we had been – let's say – very professional for the previous weeks. In fact, I got the impression that he did not consider anything that had happened between us to be that much of a big deal, and that did lift a huge burden from my shoulders, because I had always had a tendency to get worked up about things like these. I had been afraid that things were going to be extremely awkward between us, but the exact contrary was the case. Apparently we had this silent, mutual agreement not to talk about that evening at all. He had not even teased me once for throwing up in his bathroom, which – if I was totally honest – I would have done at every given opportunity, were it the other way round.

I think you could say that, broadly speaking, we had become friends. There was a certain air of comfortable trust around each other. We had, after all, shared things about ourselves that are usually not mentioned casually during afternoon tea. At least I had never been told before that someone felt as if he had to prove not to be a pureblood lunatic, as Scorpius had put it. And I, on the other hand, normally did not mention my constant fear of failure in casual conversation. You don't share profound, personal things like these without ending up on friendly terms.

I had begun looking forward to doing rounds with him.

There had only been a few odd moments in between that already should have told me that this could, quite possibly, lead to something else. An overly too quick "Sorry" after an involuntary touch over here, an inexplicable slight blush after staring at each other over there... But those were only very brief moments that passed faster than they had arisen. Nothing that a sarcastic smirk or a witty comment could not drew your attention away from.

I thought about the previous afternoon that we had spent together at the exact same table that I was sitting right then with Dominique. He had come over to ask me, if he could sit down. "Do you mind, Weasley? Every other table is occupied," Scorpius had noted, looking a bit indecisive, as if he had been afraid to overstep an unspoken boundary.

I hadn't minded at all, though.

We had sat in comfortable silence, working by ourselves, before we had started talking about the upcoming Christmas break and how we would spend it.

Scorpius had asked me if I was still not speaking to Hugo, which I had denied – a fact that was bothering me a lot at the time. In fact, I hadn't talked to Hugo for more than two weeks. The last time that had happened before had been when I accidentally had lost his favourite teddy bear at the Burrow. We had been kids back then.

I had asked Scorpius about the little leaflet poking out between his parchments that had turned out to be a detailed description of the application process at St. Mungo's. A very unusual, yet adorable shade of pink that I had never seen on him before had spread across his cheeks, when he had handed it over reluctantly.

"Not that it's any of my business, but I think that's a brilliant idea," I had commented.

He had not responded at all and kept scribbling on his parchment. "What about you, then?" he had asked after some time. That had been a very loaded question.

"Damned if I know," I had mumbled, "Above all, I love reading. I like Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and for some inexplicable reason, Astronomy. If you come up with a profession that combines any – preferably all – of the above, and also takes into account that my preferences change on a regular basis, I'll owe you big time. So, in other words: I have no idea how to become a competent, adult human being."

"Ah, I see, Weasley. This is where you are mistaken. You are assuming that adults are competent, when in reality not a single one of them knows what they're doing. It's the world's biggest, dirtiest secret," Scorpius had replied and grinned at me.

I had burst out laughing. And deep down, I had known that he had been absolutely right.

Dominique pulled me out of my thoughts and stopped me from reminiscing. "Rose, could you take a look at that? I'm not sure I did it right. Plus, I do not have the slightest idea what this part here means," she said and pointed at a specific section on her parchment.

"Sure," I answered absent-mindedly.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Scorpius running a hand over his face. When I raised my head for a moment, he caught my eye, smiling ever so slightly. He closed his book and gathered all of his belongings, before getting up to leave. I almost missed the fact that a similar grin had spread across my features as well.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Al, Dominique and I had been wandering around Diagon Alley for about three hours, trying to find presents for our families.
> 
> To be more precise, Al and Dominique were trying to find presents for their families, while I had been dragged along, and was now listening to their constant complaining.

"This is not going well," murmured Al, looking extremely frustrated.

Al, Dominique and I had been wandering around Diagon Alley for about three hours, trying to find presents for our families.

To be more precise, Al and Dominique were trying to find presents for _their_ families, while I had been dragged along, and was now listening to their constant complaining. I had bought presents for everyone days before.

"Where do these hordes of people even come from?" Dominique was especially moody that day.

Christmas break had arrived in the blink of an eye. I had always loved the time before Christmas. We had gotten back from Hogwarts the day before, and it was great to be back at home. Don't get me wrong – I loved Hogwarts, but words cannot describe how much I would have missed my outrageously large and loud family if I hadn't come home for the holidays every year. On top of that, going back meant that school work and Head Girl duties were mostly off my mind, at least for a little while.

Hugo and I had been picked up from King's Cross by both Mum and Dad. Although Mum had been incredibly busy with work, she would have never missed the opportunity to greet us as soon as we had stepped off the train.

"Rose! Oh, it's so great to see you!" Mum had exclaimed before kissing me on the cheek. "Are you eating properly? You look so thin," she mused while scrutinizing my appearance.

Dad had grinned at me and pulled me into a hug. "Hermione, give her a minute. Good to have you back, Rosie!" He then had taken a step back to take a good look at me himself. "You look all grown-up with that Head Girl badge," he said, winking at me.

"Yes, that's because I am all grown-up," I had answered cheekily.

Dad had chuckled. "Well Rosie, I hate to break it to you, but as long as you need to be picked up from King's Cross, I refuse to see you as an adult."

"Hey, this is unfair. I can't take the Apparition test until February, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'd pick you and Hugo up anyways."

"Speaking of which, have you seen your brother?" Mum had asked.

That kid hadn't been speaking to me since that whole Firewhiskey fiasco had gone down. And it was driving me crazy. I know he had acted like a git, but I missed my annoying little baby brother. Our only problem was the Weasley stubbornness, which apparently we had both inherited. This stupid fight had overshadowed the first evening we had spent with our parents back home. I think Mum had realized that something had been wrong, but she hadn't said anything to either one of us.

Still, it had been nice to sit in our living room, doing nothing except drinking Butterbeer and catching up with Mum and Dad, talking about family gossip, and about everything that had happened in Hogwarts. Well, about everything except me confiscating Hugo's Firewhiskey, before getting drunk and making out with the fellow Head Boy.

In fact, he had been brought up in conversation once. Dad had asked me if he had been giving me a hard time at Hogwarts, but I had just mumbled something along the lines of "Not at all" and quickly changed the subject. And that had been the end of that.

I wouldn't have minded spending the entire day before Christmas hanging around the house doing absolutely nothing, but Al and Dominique had crossed my plans when they showed up right after lunch.

"Rose, you have got to help me find presents for Mum and Lily, I'm desperate," Al had whined the second they had stepped out of the fireplace.

"Well, it's nice to see you to, Al!" I had answered, looking up from my book.

"Seriously, Rose. We're fucked. You have to come with us to Diagon Alley," Dominique said.

"You do realize that it is one day before Christmas Eve, right?"

"And that's exactly why we need all the help we can get."

"I don't remember agreeing to this, Dom," I mumbled, casually flicking the page of my book.

"You know, when I said you have to come with us... That was not a question – it was an order. We won't accept _No_ for an answer."

And that's how I ended up getting pushed around Diagon Alley one day before Christmas Eve, the worst day my lazy ass cousins could have picked to get their presents. You know how I said that I loved the time before Christmas? Well, Diagon Ally around that time is a special exception.

"You know, I could be home right now, taking a bath or something, but instead I have to listen to you whining and complaining."

"How do you do it, Rose? Seriously, between all this homework and being Head Girl... How on earth did you still manage to get your shit together and get everyone's presents before the holiday season even started?" Al cried.

"Albus Potter. There's this little town near Hogwarts. You might have heard of it – it's called Hogsmeade. There are all those little shops, where you can actually buy and order stuff. It's that easy," I growled, getting angrier with every passing second. Seriously, I had picked out a present for Dominique's little brother Louis - a blue sweater with the logo of the _Montrose Magpies_ , his favorite Quidditch team - and I had already suggested a bracelet for Al's sister Lily. My duty was done.

"Yeah, and if you hadn't spent the entire last Hogsmeade weekend making out with that 6th Year Ravenclaw, you might have already got something for Aunt Lily," Dominique added.

"That's a bit rich coming from someone who -," Al scoffed, before I interrupted him.

"Oh, come on! I really can't stand anymore of this right now," I blurted out. "Seriously, I need a break."

Dominique sighed. "Okay, how about this: You go and find yourself a book or something... You know, to keep yourself busy. And afterwards we'll meet in front of Uncle George's shop, let's say at six o'clock? I think we'll survive one or two hours without you," she suggested and winked at me.

I grinned from ear to ear. "Yeah, I actually like that idea. And Al, I really think you should get Lily that bracelet we saw earlier. I'm sure she'd love it," I said before turning around and storming off, "See you later!"

I loved spending time with Al and Dominique, but I wasn't too keen on this whole shopping madness. So I ended up at _Flourish & Botts_, looking through some of the books, when I heard a familiar voice right behind me.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

I turned around and faced my fellow Head Boy Scorpius Malfoy.

"I think I've heard that line before. Apparently I am pretty easy to read," I said and grinned back at him. "But as much as I love to hang around books, I'd rather do that at home right now. All those people here are driving me insane."

"Then what are you doing here?" Scorpius asked.

"My cousins dragged me out, but I think they took pity on me and let me off the leash for some time." Scorpius raised his eyebrows at that. "They're looking for Christmas presents. I'm supposed to help them, but I had to get away for a while. I'll meet them again at six," I explained. "So, what are you doing here?"

Scorpius held up the book he carried around.

" _Magical plants of Scandinavia_?" I looked at him amusedly.

"That's my Mum's Christmas present," he explained quickly.

"I'm sorry, but that's a lame Christmas present," I teased him.

"She's really into Herbology, and my parents are going to Norway for New Year's, so I figured she might like it. I got her a scarf and her favourite tea as well, so that should do it."

"I was just-... It's a quite thoughtful, actually."

"If she didn't like it, she wouldn't tell me anyway. I am her only child."

I laughed. "No, I'm sure she'll love it. Mothers always do. So, your parents are going to Norway for New Year's Eve? Are you going as well?"

"They wanted me to, but I decided to stay back home this year," he explained. "I'm going to meet Alex. Zabini, I mean." Alexander Zabini was one of the Slytherins Scorpius hung around with at that time. "And besides, having my parents' flat all to myself sounded really tempting as well," he added mischievously.

"I figure..." I debated whether or not to come up with a witty comeback to his comment, but went for small-talk instead. "Dominique and Albus have big New Year's plans as well, and I shall be dragged along."

"I see," Scorpius said. "So... Have you got anything special to do right now? I mean, until you meet them?"

"Erm, no... Why?" I asked him absent-mindedly, while putting the books I had been looking through before back onto the shelf.

"I'm going to meet Alex later at the _Leaky Cauldron_ , but that's not until seven. So I figured… Maybe I'd get a cup of coffee. Do you want to join me?"

Not that his question was _that_ weird, but he caught me off guard nonetheless. For some reason, I almost dropped the last book I still had in my hands. Scorpius must have noticed, since he chuckled slightly. I blushed. S _tupid Weasley genes._

"Well, only if you want to, of course," he added quickly.

"No, I would... I'd love to. I could need it anyway," I decided.

"Great! I'm just going to pay for my Mom's _lame_ Christmas present," he said and winked, before heading off to the cashier.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mum and Dad taught me that miracles do not really have to be of a supernatural nature.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following chapter is a very short one. Also, it falls a bit out of line.   
> Nevertheless, I find it very important that it stands on its own - not because it is very relevant to the plot of the story, but because it's relevant in order to understand Rose's relationship with Hugo and in order to grasp how their family copes with conflicts.  
> Enjoy!

I am a firm believer in reality and rationalism. I do not believe in miracles - although I probably should, since both of my parents survived a war when they were about my age. I am lucky to even be here, come to think about it.

But Mum and Dad taught me that miracles do not really have to be of a supernatural nature.

Mum always says that seeing her parents again after war still feels like a miracle to her.

Dad on the other hand claims that Mum agreeing to marry him is the epitome of a miracle.

They're both right in their own ways.

If I had to come up with something that I consider a miracle, it would probably be the Christmas present I got from Hugo that year.

Mum, Dad and I were already going through our presents, while Hugo – still half-asleep - was shoveling eggs and bacon into his mouth.

Mum gave me a few books and, since I had mentioned earlier that I wanted to go travelling after Hogwarts, a beautiful backpack.

Dad had given up encouraging me to start playing Quidditch a long time before, but we still go to see the _Chudley Cannons_ every year during Christmas holidays, so it has become tradition to get us tickets for that. It's very predictable, but he's not the most creative gift-giver, and I would never want to change that tradition for anything.

"Rosie, there's another one for you," Dad told me and handed over a simple little box wrapped in brown paper. I shot Hugo a surprised glance. There was no note attached, but it was pretty obvious that this was a present he had gotten me, since his face went completely red.

I hadn't expected him to get me something at all, since we hadn't been speaking to each other for quite a few days. I wasn´t even sure if I wanted to open it – for all I could know it could have contained a bunch of rotten eggs. Then again, a bunch of rotten eggs would have never fit into that small box, but I think it's completely legitimate that I was a little bit suspicious.

Reluctantly, I opened it and peeked inside. I found a simple leather bracelet with a wooden pendant in form of a weasel and a folded note.

Normally, I don't wear jewelry, but this bracelet holds a very special place in my heart. What I loved even more about it was the short note written in my brother's handwriting:

" _Sorry for being a total jerk. Still love you, and always will."_

I just gaped at Hugo for a few seconds who kept eating and staring at his plate, the color of his face being about the shade of a tomato. Honestly, I didn't know what to say. The only thing I came up with was walking over towards him. He finally gave me a short, furtive look. I think he was a bit embarrassed. Since Hugo and I mostly suck at expressing emotions in an articulate way towards each other (anger being a special exception) – a character trait we most definitely inherited from Dad – I just hugged him and mumbled a very quiet, but sincere "Thank you".

"You're welcome," Hugo mumbled back.

And that was about it. We basically pretended that our fight had never happened after that, because honestly – what was left to talk about? When he asked me a few months later what I had done with the Firewhiskey Scorpius and I had confiscated, I simply told him that I had gotten rid of it. Which was technically true. I confessed the whole truth much later. But I'll save that one for another time.


	10. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Actually, I think you're only one of us who's ever managed to look guilty of something, even if you haven't gotten up to nonsense at all," Al grinned and looked at me carefully, "Or have you?"

It's truly amazing how many people fit into the Burrow. Seriously, ever since I can remember our extended family has been constantly growing. Someone brought their new girlfriend or boyfriend, someone got married, or maybe pregnant.

That's what makes every family reunion very… special. It is always loud, very chaotic, and often embarrassing - and I would not trade it for anything in the world. Christmas that year was no exception.

I actually love my family to pieces - each and every one of them. Although they can be incredibly annoying.

"Oy, Rosie!"

James was shouting across the whole dinner table, while I was sitting down next to Al. I had just come back from helping Aunt Ginny and Uncle Percy in the kitchen.

"Teddy has been wondering if you've been seeing anyone. Is there any boyfriend, who's been hanging around your dorm lately?"

James grinned widely, while Teddy protested, "Excuse me, but that is not true! You are the one who has been wondering if she is seeing anyone. I do, for a fact, respect other people's privacy. I merely commented that being Head Girl has its advantages – having your own private dorm being one of them."

I did raise an eyebrow and took a very large sip of Nana's Christmas punch, because I didn't like the fact that almost everyone had turned their heads and was now looking at me - including Mum and Dad, who were both smirking. Apparently everyone enjoyed seeing me being really uncomfortable. Those backstabbing bastards!

I felt my face turning bright red. What was I even feeling guilty for? I was going to kill James and Teddy.

Luckily, Al had always been more quick-witted than I was. It's a trait I had always been admiring. He looked at Teddy suspiciously. And then it clicked.

"You are speaking from experience, aren't you?" he asked.

"Well, I kinda am," he admitted cheekily.

Everyone at the table burst into laughter, including Nana, who smacked him across the head lightly. "Don´t let Bill find out about that," she laughed.

The Delacour part of the Weasleys was spending Christmas in France with Dominique's grandparents. But I guess she was right - Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur did not have to know about that.

"Excuse me, but Victoire and I have been dating for almost 7 years, and we've been engaged for about 2 of those. I think he should have figured out by now that his daughter and I are on more than just friendly terms," Teddy said, grinning widely.

"You see, Rosie? Nothing to be ashamed of," James commented.

Thanks to Al, I had regained my composure.

"Let me assure that I, unlike Teddy, actually take being Head Girl seriously. How on earth would I find time to have boys over at my dorm?" Teddy gasped dramatically. 

"I didn't asked about boys in general. Just one would be interesting enough. Not that I would judge you if you had more than one boyfriend. Go and get 'em, Rosie", James said, casually sipping on his own punch.

"I appreciate the support, James. But trust me – if there were one or several boyfriends, you would be the last one I would tell."

James gasped just as Teddy had done, looking very mock-offended, "Well, that just hurt."

Aunt Ginny was rolling her eyes, "Oh, for Merlin's sake. Leave the poor girl alone. You guys are worse than Ron."

"Excuse me?" Dad protested.

"What did I marry into?" Uncle Harry mumbled and winked at me.

I grinned back at him and knew I was over the worst of it.

"Okay, I need a break – I´m going for a walk. Do you want to join me?" Al asked me.

"Thank Merlin, of course I want to join you," I mumbled quickly and took the chance to leave the table. I desperately needed to get away from there before someone started to ask me about the fellow Head Boy. And I definitely wanted to avoid that subject.

Al and I got our coats, slipped on our boots and stepped outside into the cold winter evening. The sun had just started to set. The ground was slightly covered with snow that had fallen the night before. We walked down a field path towards a small stream, hidden somewhere behind the Burrow. Al turned around to check if we were out of sight, reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a pack of Muggle cigarettes.

He lit up a cigarette, while I was watching him and smirked.

"What?" he asked amusedly, "Do you want one?"

I shook my head. "You should know better than anyone that I would not dare to even take a drag, as long as Mum is anywhere near a 100 miles radius," I said.

"Beside the fact that you don't like smoking, you mean?"

"Exactly. And thanks, by the way."

Al laughed and took another drag before reacting, "For rescuing you? You're welcome. We definitely have got to work on that Weasley blush of yours."

"You think?" I mumbled sarcastically.

"Actually, I think you're only one of us who's ever managed to look guilty of something, even if you haven't gotten up to nonsense at all," Al grinned and looked at me carefully, "Or have you?"

"Gotten up to nonsense?" I avoided his gaze. "Not really."

Sometimes I feel as if Al can read me like a book. I think that's something he inherited from Aunt Ginny. I heard Mum comment several times on the fact that Aunt Ginny was extremely smart when it came to stuff like this.

"Okay," he simply stated.

We kept walking in silence, until the path made a turn that lead us directly back to the Burrow.

"Are we ever going to talk about it, though?" he asked suddenly.

"Talk about what?" I countered, trying to sound casual.

Al looked at me knowingly, "About me and Dominique running into you and Scorpius Malfoy, when you were hanging around Diagon Alley."

I sighed.

I had expected that that would come back to bite me in the arse.

I started to reminisce.


	11. Chapter 10

I do not, for the life of me, remember what the name of that coffeeshop was. I had never been there before, although I remembered that Albus had told me about it, because a girl he had dated briefly in August had dragged him there. It was one of the smaller cafés in one of the little side streets of Diagon Alley.

Scorpius held the door open for me.

I've been trying to stop him from doing that, but I haven't been successful to this very day. I keep telling him that chivalry is overrated, and he keeps arguing that this has nothing to do with chivalry. It's just how his mother has raised him - which I can't really hold against him. I think the only reason I noticed the small gesture was because it was so foreign to me at that time.

When I looked at him all puzzled, he quirked an eyebrow and asked bemusedly, "In or out, Weasley? I'm happy to follow you anywhere else, but honestly, I highly doubt the next place is going to have any more free tables than the last two or three we've just passed."

Scorpius had misinterpreted my confused hesitation as some form of protest against the place he just had suggested. But he was right, of course. Diagon Alley and its surrounding were still packed with wizards and witches, enjoying the beginning of Christmas season.

"Sorry, I'm all in of course," I mumbled quickly and stepped through the door.

After I had entered, I took a deep breath. It smelled like freshly roasted coffee beans, milk foam and cinnamon.

"Oh, bloody brilliant. They have cinnamon rolls. I won't be able to move, when Christmas break is over," I complained, while moving towards the only free table. Scorpius chuckled slightly.

The place itself was quite comfortable, albeit slightly unimaginative, in my opinion. Their coffee was amazing, though – as well as their music taste, which I told Scorpius while taking my scarf and cloak off and throwing it on one of the free chairs at the table. It reminded me of the old Muggle swing records my grandparents always have listened to.

"Yeah, it's not bad. I swear, if I have to listen to another Celestina Warbeck Yule record at my Aunt Daphne's house during Christmas Day, I'm going to throw myself off a cliff," Scorpius replied while he sat down, and I started giggling.

"Stop laughing. Aunt Daphne after too much eggnog and Celestina Warbeck is nothing but a minor catastrophe, and I've endured this for almost two decades now," he frowned.

I tried to keep it together, while a young, brunette waitress took our order. Therefore, I almost missed the interested glances and charming smiles that were directed at Scorpius. He'd always been a rather handsome guy after he had hit puberty. Just before Christmas break he had started to tie back his long hair in a small man bun. It fitted him rather nicely. The only reason why there was not much serious female rivalry over him I had to deal with was his family name. But at that point, I was not really worrying about any of this and silently smirked into the small menu.

Scorpius, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the waitresses shy flirting. He was rather occupied teasing me for my coffee choices.

He smirked at me, "A cinnamon latte? What are we, twelve?"

"What?" I retaliated, "I'm not going to have a straight-up espresso at five o'clock in the afternoon. There's no chance I'll ever fall asleep tonight after that."

"That's just blasphemous," Scorpius said, "You don't mess with the original flavor of coffee beans with something as frivolous as milk."

"I honestly cannot tell if you are joking or not," I said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I never joke about coffee," he answered solemnly.

"Who would have thought that Scorpius Malfoy could be such a snob about something," I smirked. Scorpius stuck his nose in the air and winked at me.

That façade collapsed like a fragile house of cards when our order arrived and he started putting a spoon full of sugar into his Turkish coffee.

"Scorpius Malfoy, are you kidding me? How can you mess with the original flavor of coffee beans with something as frivolous as sugar!" I was all mock-offended.

He hesitated and looked at me as if he had never considered that before. After he had regained his usual confidence, he smirked and said, "That is totally different, Weasley."

"Are you serious right now?" I said, but couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Fine, I'm a hypocrite. Five points to Gryffindor for figuring that out," Scorpius answered and took a small sip from his coffee before adding, "Your poor excuse for a coffee is on me, by the way."

I let my gaze wander over his face, his messy hair and the dark-blue sweater he wore, while deciding whether I was going to retaliate to his obvious, albeit friendly mockery, or if I was going to react to his unexpected invitation. I chose the latter.

"Why?" I asked.

The blonde boy in front of me shrugged. "Because I want to, that's why", he replied, "Unless that makes you uncomfortable."

I let that sink for a few seconds. "I think it's safe to say that, since you've seen me in too many compromising situations by now, we're way past the point to feel awkward by a simple offer to pay for coffee. So, thank you."

He grinned. "Good to know. And you're very welcome."

The rest of the afternoon flew by. Scorpius was easy to get along with. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed before 7th year.

We laughed at each other's stupid jokes and bickered about mundane stuff just for the sake of it.

We swore that if anyone of us was going to open up a café, we were going to call it Espresso patronum, because we both agreed that anything else would not even be worth the pain and a total waste of time.

We found out about the fact that neither of us had been able to produce a full-formed patronus until that point.

We talked about the places we had been to and those we wanted to visit.

"The Faroe Islands," Scorpius answered like a bullet out of a gun when I asked him. "And you?"

"La Réunion", I told him, thinking of the pictures Dominique and her family had taken during their summer vacation a few years back. "It's this French Island in the Indian Ocean," I explained when I noticed his questioning look.

Then my eyes fell on the clock on the wall behind Scorpius' head.

"Oh, bollocks! I'm supposed to meet Al and Dominique in about ten minutes!"

Scorpius turned around and looked at the clock as well, "Oh, right." He took out a few coins, left them on the table and got up to put on his grey cloak that matched his grey eyes. "You never got your cinnamon rolls, though."

"Oh, I'm sure I will survive until dinner," I said and put on my cloak as well.

"Hopefully," he grinned at me, "… and thanks, by the way."

"For what?" I followed him towards the door, which he held open again.

"For keeping me company."

"Oh…" I said, and noticed that I got a little flustered, "It… was a pleasure, honestly. And thanks again for paying."

But, go figure, of all the places in Diagon Alley that sold coffee, Albus and Dominique had decided to go to the one that Scorpius and I just had walked out of.

My cousins and I froze at the spot. The two of them looked as if I just caught them with their hands in a brownie jar. Basically, they looked the same way I felt. I felt my face growing hot. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Scorpius' glance wandered from my flustered face to my two guilty-looking cousins, and back again. He looked rather amused by the whole situation.

"What are you doing here?" Dominique blurted out.

"What are _you_ doing here?" I shot back, "We're supposed to meet in about, what? Three and a half minutes?"

"Well, I considered 6 o'clock to be more of a… general guideline, not a specific – … Okay, I just got hungry," Dominique complained when she saw my raised eyebrows.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Oh, for Godric's sake," I mumbled.

It was Al who spoke up next, "Don't worry, we'll only be a few more minutes. Besides… You do seem to have someone to kill time with anyway." He kept a straight face, but his tone was rather mischievous. His eyes fell on Scorpius and he gave a small nod, "Malfoy."

"Potter," Scorpius answered, before turning towards Dominique, "Weasley."

Dominique tugged on Al's sleeve. "Yeah, whatever – enough pleasantries and polite shenanigans, I'm starving and I do crave something outrageously sweet," she said, before pointing a finger at me, "We will talk about this later, see you in a minute at Uncle George's. Have a Merry Christmas, Malfoy!"

The two of them disappeared into the café, while Scorpius and I stared at the door.

Scorpius cleared his throat, "Well… That was subtle."

"Yeah, sorry about that," I mumbled. He didn't really look too bothered and simply shrugged. Since I didn't want to wait around outside for Al and Dominique, and going back in was also not an option, because I knew they would bombard me with questions I was not prepared to answer, I gestured behind my back towards Diagon Alley and asked, "Do you want to-?"

"Yeah, sure," he answered and turned around as well.

We walked a few moments in a not-uncomfortable silence, when Scorpius asked, "He doesn't really like me, does he?"

I turned to look at him. He was frowning.

"Who? Albus?"

He simply nodded.

I did not know how to answer that. Honestly, I think he didn't really care about Scorpius at all until that point. It had always been me who had complained about him becoming Head Boy instead of my cousin. Al probably had not really minded at all. Nor had he been particularly engaged when I had been whining about anything I had been unhappy with regarding Scorpius Malfoy before. They simply lived in two very different and separate worlds until then.

"Honestly? I do not think that he has any particular opinion about you at all. He does not really dislike people with whom he has nothing to do with. Plus, he's a bit reserved around people he doesn't know well. Always has been."

Scorpius nodded. He took a sharp breath.

"Rose, can I ask you something?"

"Erm. Sure," I replied.

"Have you told them?"

I was glad he gave me a heads-up, but still – I almost stumbled across my own feet. I inhaled deeply and asked, "About what?"

The side glance he shot me made it obvious that he knew.

He knew exactly that I was very well aware of what he was talking about. One of the things I have learned about him though is that he has always valued discretion. And that he respects people's decision to avoid questions or not give straight answers if they don't want to, for whatever reasons. But he is also very straightforward. Both are character traits I appreciate dearly.

"About us breaking around seven school rules a few weeks ago, when we stole your brother's Firewhiskey and got drunk together right afterwards - among other things," he stated.

"You say stealing, I say confiscating. But to answer your question: No, I haven't told them. I haven't told anyone, given to the fact that I highly doubt we would still be Head Boy and Girl, if this reaches any teacher's ears. I must say, I've grown very fond of my personal dormitory."

"So have I," he agreed and we smirked at each other conspiratorially.

Absentmindedly, I had accompanied him to the exit of Diagon Alley, where he would get to the Leaky Cauldron.

He came to a halt and started a sentence, "So, that was- ,"

"- interesting," I completed.

"Yeah, that will do," he grinned, "I'm glad I ran into you, Weasley. I had a good time."

"Me too." And it was true. I really meant it, I had enjoyed my time with him a lot.

Scorpius looked at me for a moment, before he leaned in and hugged me briefly. I caught my breath, because I hadn't expected it.

"Happy Christmas, Rose."

"You… You too, Scorpius," I stuttered, almost inaudibly. How very smooth.

Scorpius grinned at me, and with that, he turned around and walked towards the entrance to the courtyard of the Leaky Cauldron.

I looked after him before I turned around as well to get back to Weasleys' Wizard Weezes. There was no way I was going to turn up later than necessary – I knew I was in enough trouble already. I had no idea how to explain to Albus and Dominique why in Merlin's name I had just spent the rest of my afternoon with Scorpius Malfoy of all people, when I had never mentioned that we had started hanging out together - if this is what we were doing at that time, and if this is what you want to call getting drunk in secrecy. Among other things.

The good thing was that we later ran into my Dad at the shop, and that both Al and Dominique had the decency and common sense not to mention any of that in front of a parent. But I knew that it very definitely would come up at some point and – as mentioned beforehand - come back to bite me in the arse.

Albus took a last drag from his cigarette and put it out on a rather large boulder.

"So, let me rephrase that: How did you and Malfoy end up in that café in Diagon Alley? How exactly did that happen?" Al asked curiously.

I sighed. "There… Honestly, there is not that much to talk about that. We ran into each other at Flourish & Botts, we both got a lot of time to kill, since he was waiting for someone, and so was I. We went to have coffee. That's all of it. End of story," I claimed, and which was all true. It was just not the whole story. And I guess that's what Al was on about.

"You see, that seems all nice & dandy, Rose. But since when are you and Scorpius Malfoy on "Coffee-drinking in Diagon Alley" terms?"

"We are both Heads. We spend a lot of time together," I said rather shortly.

"I know. It just seems like something you would have mentioned before, Rose."

And he was absolutely right. Under normal circumstances, I probably would have mentioned something like this. It was just that the whole situation was quite new and did not really meet my personal criteria of "normal circumstances". He was Scorpius Malfoy after all.

And because I kept silent, Abus continued, "Look… If you don't want to talk about it, I understand and respect that. I consider you to be a good judge of character, you're incredibly smart, and if you choose to keep things to yourself, I'm sure you have good reason for that."

Come to think of it, Albus and Scorpius do have quite a few things in common. Al has always been one of the more subtle, discrete and rather respectful people in our family.

"But I hope you do realize that Dominique is not going to accept any of this. And when she's back from France, she will probably bug you until she has answers she's happy with. So you might want to… mentally prepare for that."

I sighed again.

"I know."


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh bugger. She hadn't found the opportunity to bring up having run into me and Scorpius in Diagon Alley until that point – and now Lily had served it on a silver platter.

Christmas passed by in the blink of an eye. Dominique came back from France just in time for New Year's Eve, which was traditionally spent at Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's. It usually involved a little bonfire, marshmallows, a lot of hot chocolate, a little bit of mulled wine and all kinds of board games.

Dominique and Al had already come up with a plan how to spend the rest of the night – they had a whole schedule planned out. Casper Davis, the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, was apparently lucky enough to have very trusting parents, who didn't mind that their son hosted a party for the entire 7th Year student body - which sounded a bit terrifying and very exhausting, if you asked me.

"It's going to be fun," Dominique said cheerfully and smirked, while she was plaiting Lily's hair. I had thrown myself onto Lily's bed the minute we had entered her bedroom, from where I was watching and waiting impatiently for them to finish.

"I'm not sure if my definition of fun matches yours," I replied tightly.

"Point taken, but I do not intend to spend New Year's Eve without you. And Al already made me promise to let you go home whenever you start complaining about us dragging you there."

Lily chuckled and pointed to my messy ponytail. "Rose, are you going to have your hair plaited as well?"

"Nope," Dominique and I answered in unison. When Lily shot me a questioning look, I shrugged lazily and explained, "I'm used to looking like a boring mountain troll next to Dom. It's all good."

Dom rolled her eyes. "Stop being ridiculous, Rose."

I simply shrugged. "It would be too much of a pain anyway, since you prefer doing it without magic. My hair's a big curly bird's nest."

"Your hair is fine. Plaits just don't go well with your face. You would look like a 12-year-old."

"Whatever you say," I grinned and changed the subject, "Is Neville coming as well?" New Year's Eve at the Potter's was (and still is) - a very casual affair. Some people, like my parents or the Scamanders, come around every year. Others, like Uncle Percy and Auntie Audrey, might only stop by for a few hours and leave before midnight, while Uncle Charlie usually shows up after midnight - for whatever reason. Maybe you'll meet a scary looking Auror. Or someone who plays for the _Holyhead Harpies_ – you'll never know.

"You're all set, Lily," Dom told her. Lily walked over to the mirror that hang on her wall and looked at her plaits.

"Thanks – they look great, Dom! And yes, Neville is coming. Hannah too, she took the night off," Lily answered. She turned around and looked at me, suddenly wearing a sheepish look and playing nervously with her own hands.

"Rose, I never-," she trailed off and took a short breath. "I never thanked you for, you know…"

Dom gave me a puzzled look that I could only reciprocate.

"For what?"

"For not splitting on us to Neville, when Malfoy and you caught us red-handed." Her cheeks had turned pink. So that's what that was about!

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's water under the bridge. It would have caused more trouble than done anything good," I replied hastily. I had started to feel a little uneasy, given to the fact that I had never mentioned any of this to Dom. I had been so upset with Hugo and Lily, but walking in on my brother, my cousin and her friends about to empty a bottle of Firewhiskey had turned out to be least of my concerns.

"Good. Because I really am sorry – and I never had the guts to come over and apologize to you." Lily seemed relieved and smiled happily, but Dom looked a little bewildered.

"Malfoy and- what on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh, she hasn't told you?"

"Not a word," Dom muttered, her eyes squinting and looking at me skeptically.

So Lily told her all about it – how Hugo had smuggled in a bottle of Firewhiskey they had planned to share in an empty classroom in early December. She told her about realizing that it hadn't been their brightest idea, that it had been the night Scorpius and I had been doing rounds – and that the both of us had walked in on them. She said that Hugo and I had had that terrible fight right there and then, described how upset I had been, and that she had been rather pleasantly surprised that they hadn't earned months of detention or received howlers– because neither Scorpius nor I had lost a word to anyone about it, let alone a professor. I just wished that Lily would have stopped talking. "I was rather surprised, actually. I mean, we are family, but Malfoy- … Well anyway, thank you!"

Dom just kept looking for me for a few moments. "So that's why Hugo and you were so awkward before Christmas. That is… _interesting_ ," Her voice was suspiciously neutral.

"As I said, it's all water under the bridge."

"Good," Lily beamed. "So, are you coming?" She had grabbed her brand-new, red Weasley jumper that Nana had given her for Christmas, and was already heading towards the door.

I got up and followed her quickly, but just as we were outside her door, Dom called after Lily, "Lils, why don't you just go ahead? We'll be there in a minute." _Oh bugger._ She hadn't found the opportunity to bring up having run into me and Scorpius in Diagon Alley until that point – and now Lily had served it on a silver platter.

Lily looked a bit puzzled, but did not question it any further. "Sure," she said, before heading back down to join the festivities.

Dom practically shoved me into Albus' room, which was located next to Lily's, and pulled the door shut behind her.

"Okay, Rose – fill me in here. What on earth happened?" She had her hands on her hips, wearing a very determined look on her face, and frankly I was a tiny bit frightened by her right then. I felt a little knot forming in my stomach and my cheeks growing hot.

"I- … Lily already did that," I tried to explain, but Dom was having none of that.

"Oh come on, Rose. Stop beating around the bush! They tried to get drunk, they failed miserably, you of all people walked in on them – yada yada yada. But what happened afterwards? You didn't tell on them. And Lily just said that you were doing rounds with Scorpius Malfoy, who – coincidentally – just took you for coffee, apparently, about a week ago. Something definitely happened in between, otherwise you wouldn't have- …"

Suddenly, she trailed off. Her mouth dropped open and she pointed an accusing finger at me. She looked utterly thunderstruck.

"Bloody hell! You actually _were_ hungover!"

"What?" I asked confusedly

"That time when I thought you were sick, after you hadn't shown up for breakfast - and I said that you looked hungover…you actually were!"

"Oh…" I answered lamely. Dom had just put two and two together. She is very smart after all, especially when it comes to reading between lines. If you're hiding something and she gets wind of it, you do not stand a chance - she has the determination of a tracker dog.

I ran a hand over my face – and I was desperately looking for an answer that was a bit more substantial and less pathetic than _"Oh"_ ,but couldn't come up with anything at all.

And since Dom was not only my cousin, but also one of my closest friends, who didn't deserve to be lied to, I just went with an honest answer. There was no point in denying it anyway. "Yes. I actually was. After we had sent them to bed, we took Hugo's Firewhiskey and had a few drinks."

"So, let me get this straight. You stole your little brother's Firewhiskey?" I nodded. "And then you got drunk? With… Scorpius Malfoy?"

My face grew even hotter, and the knot in my stomach got tighter. I simply nodded.

Dom started laughing. "Blimey, Rosie - this is… brilliant."

"Excuse me?"

"You of all people, Hogwart's current Head girl - the one who keeps babysitting me, after I had a few too many… Rose Weasley got drunk with a bottle of confiscated Firewhiskey. This is one of the most hilarious things I've heard in ages. And probably the most badass thing you've done in a lifetime."

I felt slightly unsettled. "Are you not… mad at me? I lied to you. You saw right through me and I claimed I had a tummy bug."

Dom just kept laughing and shook her head. "I'm way too impressed right now."

I never got the chance to react to that, because right then the door to Albus' bedroom behind Dom swung open. Al had come looking for us. He leant against the doorframe, his arms folded and looking rather irritated. "You know, most people would consider it polite to at least _ask_ before they hang around someone else's room," he stated, "What are you doing here?"

Dom, who looked way too pleased for my own liking, just smirked and said, "Rose got drunk."

Al raised an eyebrow. "You've lost me right there. She looks perfectly sober to me."

"Not right now, you twit - about a month ago."

I sighed and sat down on Al's bed, getting ready to recount the story again – which I did, only leaving out the bit where I ended up snogging Scorpius Malfoy and throwing up in his bathroom.

Albus listened patiently, his face completely impassive and in total silence, until I begged him, "Al? Say something."

"I'm… extremely proud and slightly offended that I didn't get to witness that, let alone get invited."

"I told you - this is brilliant!" Dom chuckled.

"And it also explains why you're in cahoots with Scorpius Malfoy all of a sudden."

"You can't tell anyone about this. Seriously, if any professor found out about this, we're completely screwed," I pleaded.

"What do you take us for, Rose? We're not idiots," Albus scoffed. "Plus, every time Dom and I have gotten into trouble, you've covered for us. Returning the favor is the least we can do."

"Exactly," Dom nodded. "Now we've got that out of the way… Is there anything else you would like to talk about right now?" She smirked knowingly and exchanged a conspiratorial glance with Al.

"No," I answered tightly, "There's nothing I would like to _talk about_ right now."

"Well, then… Let's get back down," Albus pushed us to leave "I have Felicitas Finnegan waiting downstairs."

"Wait, you invited a _date –_ to your parents' New Year's party?" Apparently Dom was already moving on to greater and more interesting things.

"Of course not, I merely invited… _friends_ ," Al said over his shoulder, grinning cheekily,

She slapped her own forehead. "Why haven't I thought of that?"

* * *

**_A/N:_ ** _I must say - I have grown very fond of Dom. I hope you like her too.  
_


	13. Chapter 12

New Year's Eve at Potters' was business as usual. It was comfortable. It was fun.

I had spent a good amount of time staring into the bonfire, laughing at James' and Teddy's ridiculous puns and talking to Victoire and Dominique, while sipping at my mulled wine. Dominique had insisted on me trying in and had shoved a cup into my hands.

"This is way too sweet," I complained.

Victoire, who had been talking about her trip to Québec with the Auror programme in early December, nodded. "You might wanna be careful with that – sugar and alcohol can be a deadly combination." I grimaced.

"Does the trick though, and quite effectively so," Dominique smirked.

"Have I taught you nothing? You want to be tastefully tipsy, not blindly drunk." Victoire was frowning.

"Now, where's the fun in that?"

"I second that," Al called over from the other side of the bonfire and Felicitas laughed.

Victoire rolled her eyes. "Amateurs," she stated.

"What are you having anyway?" I was eyeing her glass full of blackberries. It looked purple, delicious and extremely fancy.

"That's a Bramble - would clash horribly with your hair, though. We need to find you something different."

I stared at her. "Did you just try to match a drink to my hair?"

She smirked and said, "Who said that being an apprentice Auror and classy ought to be mutually exclusive? You look more like a Moscow Mule girl anyway – you like ginger, right?" Victoire took the mulled wine off me and pulled me back into the house, where she introduced me to one of the most delicious things that Muggles had ever come up with.

"You're right – I have no idea what this is, but apparently I am a Moscow Mule kind of girl," I mumbled into my drink.

Victoire laughed. "I've told you so. And – pro tip – always have a glass of water with every drink. Trust me – it tones down the hangover."

"Why wasn't I told that earlier?" I groaned.

She grinned and asked, "Bad experience?"

"You could say that," I answered and shuddered at the thought of my first and only hangover.

"We all have been there," she laughed, "Keep an eye on Dominique and Albus tonight, will ya?"

I spent the rest of the evening with two glasses in each hand and chatting to a whole bunch of people. Neville and Hannah told me about all the odd, yet entertaining guests that had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron during Christmas. I listened to my Dad, Uncle Harry and Aunty Ginny arguing about the upcoming Quidditch season. And - as always – listening to Luna Scamander was slightly disturbing as well as utterly hilarious.

As I said, it was comfortable. It was fun. It was familiar. And yet I found myself dragged away towards the fireplace by Dominique, Albus and his non-official date Felicitas.

"Don't forget about our chess game tomorrow, Rosie!" Dad told me, as he was waving me off, "I won't accept sheer exhaustion in the aftermath of a party as an excuse whatsoever."

I laughed and waved back, before grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, stepping into the fireplace, and calling out Casper Davis' address.

* * *

The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of people. The second was the sheer amount of noise. It was all fun and games – just not my cup of tea.

"See you at midnight," Albus said before heading off with Felicitas.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," I hissed. Albus and Dominique were the only two reasons I was there, and now one of them vanished into thin air. Dom just laughed.

"Relax, Rosie. We'll find a way to keep you entertained," she said and looked around, until her eyes lingered on something – or rather someone – on the far end of the room. Her lips curled into a grin. "Well, would you look at that," she said and nodded towards Scorpius Malfoy, before facing me again. "That has been easy."

I felt a very familiar kind of heat creeping up my cheeks. Apparently, the Weasley blush would never grow old - what else was new? I narrowed my eyes at her, but she just kept smirking at me.

"Did you know he was coming?"

I shook my head. Meanwhile, Scorpius had looked up and spotted me – he smiled slightly and waved. He was standing next to Alex Zabini and a bunch of Ravenclaws. 

"Wanna go over there?" Dom asked cheekily, while I waved back.

_Actually… why not?_

"Sure," I said. Maybe it was the Moscow Mule that had made me all defiant, but my brain didn't stand a chance against my newly found, gutsy confidence. I started walking over there, before I could even start to think about possible reasons not to. And honestly, there probably was none.

"Wait, what? Really?" Dom asked in astonishment while she followed me through the crowd of fellow Hogwarts students towards Scorpius. Apparently she had expected lame excuses and tactics of evasion. She was used to me being coy and awkward when it came to guys. When she had asked me to walk up to him, she had mainly done so just to wind me up. She hadn't expected me to actually do it.

"I would say something along the lines of… _'Why am I not surprised to see you here?'_ But I actually am surprised. And you've already seen me, so the effect is all gone now as well," I told him, or rather yelled at him. Someone should have told the host to turn the music down a nudge. "That was not…"

"Part of the protocol?" he finished my sentence.

"Exactly."

He looked at me for a second. "You just stole my line. Now I have to come up with a new one."

I raised one eyebrow. "Really, that was supposed to be your line? I'm sure you can do better than that."

Scorpius shrugged, before he started grinning. "It's good to see you," he said and took a look at the person behind my shoulder, "You too, Weasley!"

I turned my head back to Dom, who simply nodded in response. She was standing behind me, looking fascinated by the scene in front of her – she didn't even notice Alexander Zabini eyeing her with interest. Or maybe she didn't care at all.

"Um, have you guys officially met?" he asked and waggled his hand between Alexander, Dom and me. Alex stretched out his hand – it felt a bit weird to introduce myself to someone I had been sharing classes with for almost seven years. There was something about the way he was smirking at me that told me he knew way more about me than I was comfortable with.

"I am going to help myself to a drink. Do you guys want anything?" Alexander asked.

Dom glanced at him suspiciously, "Are you going to poison it?"

He looked a bit taken aback, but snorted and replied, "That was not on my list, but now that you've mentioned it…"

Dom nodded in approval. Someone who got her sense of humor was someone she would definitely accept a drink from. "Good, I'll take whatever you're having."

"What about you?" Scorpius asked me.

"Any idea what a Moscow Mule is?"

He frowned. "Not in the slightest."

"Never mind, then. Anything you guys are having will do."

"I guess Firewhiskey is out of bounds?"

"Except that, Scorpius."

His lips twitched slightly. "Thought so. What a pity."

Both of them headed off and I turned back to Dom. Her expression was unreadable.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, look at you, being all relaxed and comfortable. I'm completely and utterly… mesmerized."

"Oh, shut up."

"No, I mean it. You really seem… comfortable around him. You even have your own inside jokes. When did that happen? How on earth did I bloody miss that?"

"What, we don't have-…" I started, but trailed off, because it slowly dawned on me. He had teased me about following protocols – the same way he had done when he had kissed me. And Dominique had noticed that this had not been the first time someone of us had mentioned it. Aside from the fact that I had greeted him with the same ridiculous line he had used to greet me two times prior. We did have inside jokes. And yes – I felt comfortable in his presence.

"See? Albus was right – you are in cahoots. You're friends. You've bonded over mutual mischief." I kept silent. Dom looked at me triumphantly, "And since when are you on first name basis? I think you never called him Scorpius before – not in front of me, at least."

My thoughts wandered back to early December, when he had looked for me in the library, the day after I had fallen asleep in his dorm. _'For Merlin's sake, Malfoy… You just scared me to death!'_

"No idea."

"I think," Dom continued, "you and I both know that I am very much aware of the fact that there might me something else going on here," she paused. She tends to do that sometimes when she's looking for dramatic effect. "However, I am willing to ignore that - at least for now, since it seems that we both have better things to do tonight. I'll save my nosiness for another time."

"Thanks," was all I could come up with.

* * *

"So, how did your mum like her Christmas present?" I asked, while Scorpius handed me a drink with cucumbers in it.

"Oh, she loved the book – she took it with her to Norway, although Father thought it would be completely pointless during winter season."

"Well, at least the _wiggentrees_ should be easy to find, even in winter."

"Exactly, that's what I said," he answered excitedly.

We fell into an easy rhythm of pointless chatter and teasing each other – we talked about traditional Christmas dinners and our presents. I told him about my newly found passion for Muggle cocktails and how my cousin Victoire had decided that Bramble would be off limits for me, all due to my hair colour. Scorpius noted that she sounded like his cousin Diana, who had once stated it would have been a shame if he had ended up in Hufflepuff – not primarily because of their reputation, but because the House colours would supposedly clash horribly with his pale skin tone and his blonde hair as well.

At some point Alexander Zabini and Dom muttered, "See you later," and headed off in different directions. In hindsight, I think we hardly noticed.

I felt slightly tipsy, but Victoire's rule about having water with every drink had turned out to be pure gold. And I did enjoy myself, but that had more to do with Scorpius than with the party itself.

"This is all very anti-climactic," I said, while I was leaning against the back of a couch next to Scorpius and watching a bunch of drunken Gryffindor housemates hitting on a group of Ravenclaws.

He shrugged, "New Year's Eve always is. I don't really get what the fuss is about."

"I could be back at Uncle Harry's and listen to his friend Luna's outrageous theories about _wrapspurts_. It would be hilarious."

"Theories about what?" Scorpius looked utterly confused.

I grinned at him, "You really wanna know?"

"Probably not- and this is how you'd want to spend New Year's instead?"

I thought about that question, before answering, "No, I'd rather work on beating my Dad at Wizzard's Chess."

All of a sudden, Scorpius seemed very excited. "Wizzard's chess - Merlin, I haven't played in ages!"

I looked at him, feeling quite dumbfounded.

"You play… chess? Scorpius Malfoy plays… Wizzard's chess?"

He nodded proudly. "My grandfather has taught me when I was a kid. It's a Greengrass thing. I am…," he hesitated, but grinned, "I'm actually quite good at it."

"Don't flatter yourself - you wouldn't stand a chance against me," I said before I could stop myself. Apparently, being tipsy also correlated with becoming feisty.

"I beg your pardon?" He straightened up and glared at me, but I only smirked in return.

"I'm just stating the obvious. I learnt from the best – I have never lost against anyone, except my father."

Scorpius didn't retaliate right away, but his eyes were suddenly gleaming with the sort of determination and ambition I had never seen on him before. "Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove it, Weasley!"

I inspected our surroundings mockingly, as if I was looking for a chessboard, "How? Where?"

"Your place, my place, the rooftop – I don't care. Chess is the one thing I know I am really good at. I'm most definitely gonna take a stand on that."

I opened my mouth to answer, but my eyes fell on the clock on the opposite wall. "Merlin, is it really a quarter to midnight? I've got to find Dom and Al," I exclaimed. That seemed familiar, didn't it?

"Déjà-vu," Scorpius said, noting the familiarity of the situation as well. Then he narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine, but this..." He pointed a finger at me, much like Dom had earlier that evening. "This is not over yet."

"Sure it isn't, Scorpius!" I waved at him nonchalantly and turned around to find my cousins.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _Yes, I am playing with the Wizzard's chess trope - I hope you don't mind! ;)_


	14. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All my doubts, all my second thoughts, they had been reduced to nothing but white noise in the back of my mind. If my inner voice was still in there somewhere, I would not have a chance to tell – I had successfully muted it.

" _Déjà_ _-_ _vu_ , _"_ I thought when I found myself dragged across a room towards a fireplace for the second time that evening. Only this time, it was not Dom but Scorpius who pulled me along, grasping my hand – and I was following willingly. All my doubts, all my second thoughts - they had been reduced to nothing but white noise in the back of my mind. If my inner voice was still in there somewhere, I would not have a chance to tell – I had successfully muted it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It had been easy spotting Dominique's strawberry blonde head on the dance floor next to the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, who had seemed very much in awe of her – a fact that hadn't stopped her from bouncing over to hug me and scream into my ear, "Is it midnight already?"

We had found Albus on an isolated couch away from the crowd, serving as a pillow to a sleeping Felicitas Finnegan, who had been hurled against his shoulder. He had looked at us rather sheepishly. "She fell asleep about twenty minutes ago. I think all the mulled wine she had was a bit too much for her," he had explained. We had sat down – Dom next to Al on the couch and me on the floor in front of them – and waited for the countdown. Dom and I had chimed in happily as everyone counted down the seconds in order to greet the New Year, not bothered at all by the sleeping girl next to Al.

_"Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!"_

A bunch of people had come over hug us before stepping outside to watch the fireworks. Dom hadn't been too keen on that – she had been way too comfortable on the couch – and Al hadn't seemed to have much of a choice, given to the fact that Felicitas still hadn't stirred (I had found her ability to sleep through all the noise rather impressive).

We had spent a good amount of time with tipsy chit-chat. But I had gotten slightly tired, and the room had started to become more crowded again.

"So, what now?" I had asked.

"Give me five minutes and I'll go back to dancing," Dom had answered and poked Al, "What about you?"

"I hope that _Sleeping Beauty_ is going to wake up soon. Otherwise I'll have to carry her back to our house – or her house. I don't wanna do either, because I have no idea how to explain that to any of our parents."

I had yawned and risen to my feed. "Well, that sounds more like a you-problem," I had said and turned towards Dom, "and I'm not really into dancing right now. I think I'm gonna go."

They hadn't answered and looked at something behind me, when I had felt a tap on my shoulder. Out of nowhere, Scorpius had stood right next to me, wearing the same determined look I had seen earlier that night.

Scorpius had taken a deep breath. "I've been thinking. I want to pull this through. I even asked Davis' if he owns a chessboard, which of course he doesn't," he had said, before muttering something along the lines of "peasantry" under his breath. I had raised one eyebrow. "As it happens, I do own three different sets – one of them lying around back at my parents' flat, which is very conveniently connected to the Floo system. My parents are out of town, so there is literally no one who could be bothered by this. If we do a rapid 60-move game, where each of us gets a total of 20 or 25 minutes for the entire amount of moves, we should be done with it in less than an hour – maybe even less, because you're probably way too full of yourself. What do you think?"

Dom and Al had been flabbergasted. They had just stared back and forth between us.

I've got to say, I was a bit impressed by his fervent speech – and definitely more awake than before. Nevertheless, I had put my hands on my hips and had narrowed my eyes at him. "First of all, you haven't wished me a happy New Year yet. Rude, Scorpius! Second of all, I am _absolutely not_ full of myself, at least not when it comes to Wizzard's chess. Again, rude! And third of all…"

I had let his idea sink for a few seconds. It had made sense to me in a way that weird ideas only do to people who are tastefully tipsy or blindly drunk – and to those who are hopeless lovers of classic board games.

"If you want to suffer a defeat so badly, who am I to stand in your way? I'm in, let's get this over with."

"Brilliant, just let me get my coat," he had replied contentedly.

"Woah, hold your horses!" Albus had chipped in, "What in Godric Gryffindor's name are the two of you on about?"

"Scorpius thinks he's better at Wizzard's chess. I beg to differ, and now he desperately wants to prove me wrong."

Albus and Dominique had exchanged a bewildered look and stared at us as if we had gone completely nuts.

"You… are going to leave, because you want to play… chess," Dom slowly had stated. We both had nodded in agreement.

Al had looked a bit worried, "Are you under some sort of spell? Like, I don't know… the Imperius Curse? Or did you get confounded?" When I had given him a pointed glare and had opened my mouth, he had waved me off, "I'm not talking to you, I am talking to _him_."

Scorpius snorted amusedly, "I find your concern quite flattering, Potter - but there's no need for that. I just happen to be very much into Wizzard's chess."

Dom had narrowed her eyes, as if she had been giving that statement a bit of thought. "Nah, still doesn't make any sense," she had added.

Al had tilted his head. "I would have never taken you for such a nerd."

Scorpius had shrugged, and had replied, "Usually, I just hide it really well."

"Now, if you guys are quite through – I have a chess game to win. See you later!" I had declared and waved at my cousins.

"What just happened?" I had heard Albus ask Dom, as Scorpius and I had been walking away.

In hindsight I find Albus' and Dominique's reaction to be incredibly calm and passive, and also slightly out of character for them. Under normal circumstances, I would have expected a lot of smirking and suggestive comments, all of which I would have most definitely deserved. All I had gotten instead had been very confused looks and insinuations that I had secretly hexed the fellow Head Boy. I think Scorpius' approach and that whole bickering about chess had thrown them completely off track.

Or maybe they had been too drunk already.

Al told me later that deep down he had seen no reason to mistrust Scorpius, albeit not having been able to pinpoint the exact reason why he had felt that way, and Dom agreed. _"As absurd as it sounds, both of you seemed to know exactly what you were doing. And who was I to question that?"_ she said.

And that's how I ended up following Scorpius through a crowded room of drunken classmates towards the Floo. At some point he had taken my hand to guide me through, as if it had been the most normal thing in the world. No one else had seemed to notice, and it had felt completely natural. Therefore, I had no reason to complain about it.

"Any second thoughts?" Scorpius asked as he took a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace.

"Nope, none at all," I replied while I joined him and waited for him to call out his address.

* * *

The contrast of their quiet flat to Casper Davis' party was slightly shocking. I whistled in admiration when I saw the spacious, two-storey living room, but I never got a chance to look around properly.

Scorpius was not in the mood for giving a tour, he didn't waste any time – he stepped out of their fireplace, shook off the soot that had gathered on his robes, and led me straight to his room. He took off his coat, which he then left on the floor with total disregard, took out his wand, pointed it towards an overloaded bookshelf and muttered a quick _"Accio chessboard"_.

After setting up the board, he asked, "Which color do you prefer?"

"Doesn't matter, I will beat you anyway."

"Sure you will, Weasley."

We sat cross-legged on his bed in complete silence, deeply lost in the game. As it turned out I had vastly underestimated him. Scorpius had not been lying when he had said he was quite good. It was only about half an hour into the game when my King took off his crown and threw it in front of Scorpius' Queen.

Scorpius smirked. "Checkmate!"

"No… No way," I stammered.

I couldn't believe it – I kept staring at my defeated, now crownless King. But there was no doubt about it. Scorpius had just won.

With a flick of his wand he cleared away the chess pieces and the board. "Do you want to go back and tell your cousins about this? They might still be on that couch," he said with a nonchalance that made me want to hex him.

"No. I want revenge."

Scorpius let himself fall back onto the bad, crossing his hands behind his neck. The look on his face was extremely smug. I hated it.

"I can't believe you've just won."

"Told ya."

"This is unacceptable. I want another round."

"Weasley, get over yourself. You lost, I won - deal with it."

"No, you don't understand. This has never, ever happened before."

Scorpius looked at me for a moment and sighed. "Rose, you're basically on top of every class. You have beaten me in every test, in every subject, except for Potions and Herbology - the latter being one of those classes no one really cares about, if we're completely honest. Just let me have this," he said with a slight grin, but looking sincere at the same time.

I didn't really know how to respond to that. "That's different," I muttered.

"How is that different?" he laughed.

"Because… chess is strategy and pure logic - it's about being smart, not about studying."

"Oh come on, are you kidding me? You're the smartest witch I know," he said.

Had he just called me smart?

And for some reason, somewhere back in my mind, I heard Dom saying, _'You and I both know that I am very much aware of the fact that there might me something else going on here.'_ I don't know, how it happened, but I think my brain somehow short-circuited at that point, because I bent down to kiss him.

I feel like it would have been sensible to ask or at least give him a warning sign. Then again, his hands had been in my hair before our lips even touched. So I don't think he minded. Apparently, he had expected it. He pulled my ponytail loose in a matter of seconds and buried his hands in my curls.

It was exhilarating.

At some point, Scorpius pulled me on top of him. And frankly, things got a bit… frenzied and blurry after that. I had not only vastly underestimated his talent for Wizzard's chess, but also how intense snogging could feel when you were lying on top of someone who had their hands running up and down all over your back.

Scorpius' hands found the hem of my jumper, which he pulled over my head in one smooth motion. The look I caught on his face when we stared each other for a moment, both of us slightly out of breath, sent shivers down my spine.

Until that point, never in my entire life had anyone looked at me like that – ever.

"Merlin," Scorpius gasped, before swirling me around, pushing me down the mattress and catching my lips in another needy kiss.

It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest. It was after all the first time I found myself in such a delicate frenzy with someone. Suddenly, he was everywhere. His hands had found mine and pinned them next to my head, our fingers intertwined. The faintest hint of a soft groan escaped my lips, only to be swallowed by his, and then his hips pushed against mine.

That's when I _felt_ that things had gotten slightly out of hand.

_Oh no. Shit._

_What on Earth was I doing?_ I had Scorpius lying on top of me, and I was snogging him senseless. Don't get me wrong: I was very much into what was happening – it was just all a bit bloody scary. I was not used to any of this.

Internally, I started to panic.

And apparently, Scorpius noticed.

"Are you alright?" He had pulled back and was now eyeing me carefully, his breathing very uneven and shallow. "You're… shaking," he managed to press out. He was right – I had started shaking. I hadn't even realized before he said it.

"I don't know. I'm… just… extremely inexperienced. Also… slightly dizzy."

That might not have been the most attractive thing to say, but in all sincerity - what else was I supposed to do? It was the truth after all.

"Do you… Do you want to stop?"

"I… I don't know." My voice sounded way too high-pitched for my own liking. That was more of a whimper than anything else. Good thing I was not the only one stammering like an idiot.

Scorpius let his head drop, inhaled deeply and nuzzled into the crook of my neck. "It's okay. I will…" He trailed off. "Just… just give me a minute," he mumbled against my collarbone, his breathing hot against my skin.

I didn't dare to move.

I don't remember how long we stayed like that.

Maybe a minute.

Maybe a solid hour.

I have no idea. All I can remember is his forehead on my shoulder and that his hair in my face tickled.

After some time Scorpius pushed himself up and balanced his weight on his forearms, each one of them next to my shoulders. Meanwhile, his breathing had become way calmer and more even. His eyes found mine, and although I could barely stand looking at him right then, I didn't dare to glance away. He looked like such a mess: His hair was completely disheveled, his cheeks were of an unfamiliar shade of pink, and his lips looked a bit bruised. I couldn't quite grasp that _I_ had been the cause of that. It almost made me laugh.

Then, Scorpius leant forward ever so slightly and planted a chaste kiss on my lips, before moving away and laying down right next to me.

I watched him, feeling rather shy. Finally, I brought up the courage to whisper, "I'm sorry."

He took another deep breath, before he answered, "You should be. That was indeed a sorry excuse for a chess game." Scorpius had closed his eyes, but he was grinning cheekily. I pushed him lightly.

"You're such an arse," I said, but couldn't help laughing and feeling a little relieved. I had feared that my reluctance would leave him hurt, angry, frustrated, or all of the above. Open mockery for an allegedly pathetic round of chess was something I could deal with.

"I am just stating the obvious." Scorpius tilted his head, opened his eyes and looked at me for a while. "Are we okay, though? I mean – are you okay? I… I know I got a bit carried away. I didn't mean to get… all pushy," he mumbled.

"No, it's-… I'm okay. We're fine."

"Good." He yawned and rubbed his face lazily. His eyes flew shut again.

I took another very deep breath. I was not entirely sure what I was supposed to do now. I had just lost a round of Wizzard's Chess and made out with my opponent on his bed - what in Merlin's name was the protocol for _that_?

"Just for the record: Do you want me to leave?" I asked carefully.

He frowned slightly, as if I had personally offended him by asking that question. "Obviously not. Why?"

"I thought it would be polite to at least ask, before I shamelessly hog your bed," I said half-jokingly.

"Would not be the first time," Scorpius mumbled, "Besides, I thought I already told you fake politeness is not something I do."

"Point taken."

He then moved a little bit closer, put one arm under me, another around me, and pulled me into a hug.

That was… new. It felt unusually intimate and quite different from everything we had done before. Carefully, I nuzzled against his side. He responded with a soft peck on my temple.

"Happy New Year, Rose." His voice was soft, light as a feather.

"You too," I whispered, feeling a lot calmer than before.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ _That was... quite a challenge to write. I had a lot of fun with it too, though. Let me know what you think! I know I have not been exactly subtle with the whole build-up of this - how convenient for the plot that both of them have been secret chess enthusiasts all along...  
_

_Also, just a heads-up: Where I live, things are going slowly back to normal, meaning I will have to become a productive member of society again - updates will take some time. I'd be happy if you stick around anyway!_


	15. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been the second time in about a month that I had occupied Scorpius Malfoy's bed. At least that time I actually remembered where I was.

The following morning, I woke to find an empty bedside next to me. It had been the second time in about a month that I had occupied Scorpius Malfoy's bed. At least that time I actually remembered where I was.

I heard someone bustling around outside his bedroom. The door was ajar. A quick look at the magic alarm clock on the bedside table told me that it was just after eight. I felt nowhere near ready to face the world. How on earth was Scorpius already awake, let alone up and walking around?

Absent-mindedly, I ran my hand through my curls and looked around his abandoned room. When my gaze fell on his wall, I frowned slightly. There was a banner of the _Montrose Magpies_ as well as the _Falmouth Falcons_ – next to a poster of the _Holyhead Harpies_. I got up to get a proper look at the _Harpies_ poster and grinned when I recognized my cousin Roxanne, who had started to play for them as a beater the season before. Aunt Ginny had been so proud.

I looked at the moving pictures of friends he had put up on his wall. A bunch of Slytherins after a Quidditch match back in 6th Year were staring right back at me, looking very smug and happy. Helena Avery had one arm around Alexander Zabini's and another around Scorpius' shoulders. Their team had just beaten Ravenclaw at the end of the season. I still remembered, because Dom's brother Louis, a very proud Ravenclaw chaser, had been devastated after that game.

Right above that picture, there was another one with Scorpius when he was about 15 (or 16 tops), in between two older girls. He looked slightly annoyed as the older one ruffled his hair, but grinned nevertheless. The one to his left – Flora Rosier, a Ravenclaw who had graduated two years before – laughed and squeezed his arm. She looked like a younger replica of her sister Diana – the one who had her hand in Scorpius blonde hair. I vaguely remembered that she had been a Slytherin in Victoire's year.

In retrospect, and after meeting his two cousins, it makes a lot of sense that Scorpius has seemed to be a tad more mature than most boys his age. Especially Flora has always been more of a sister to him, they are still quite close. You don't get to be around a person like her and not end up knowing your way around girls. Obviously I hadn't realized that yet right then.

Back then, I decided that I should probably stop hiding – and most definitely stop snooping around his room. I went to look for him.

I followed the noise and found him in the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards. He had changed and taken a shower. His blonde hair looked wet, and he was now wearing grey sweatpants and a dark green T-Shirt.

Leaning against the doorframe, I secretly wondered if things would be extremely awkward now. Nothing ventured, nothing gained – there was only one way to find out.

"Good morning!"

"Merlin!" he cried and almost dropped the cup he had taken out of the cupboard, but caught it at the last moment. "Weasley, are you trying to scare me to death? I didn't think you would be up yet." Scorpius took a very overdramatic breath and grinned at me, when I rolled my eyes at him. He then gestured towards the stove. "Are you up for coffee?"

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Moka pot or French press?"

"I literally don't care, as long as it has caffeine in it."

"Moka pot it is, then. Trust me on that."

I watched him setting it up and stated, "You're up early."

"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Apparently I'm not used to sleeping next to someone else," he said, grinning a bit sheepishly.

"Sorry 'bout that," I mumbled just as I felt my cheeks heating up, "Any chance that I can still use your bathroom, though? This time I won't throw up in it, I promise."

He laughed at the joke at my own expense and nodded towards the door, "Down the corridor, second door to the right."

I looked at myself in the mirror while brushing my teeth – with a toothbrush I had just summoned. My cheeks were a bit flushed, but apart from that I looked paler than usual – which I always do when I don't get enough sleep. My hair was its usual, untamable self, but after putting it up into a bun, and after washing my face, I felt more presentable.

Not that it _really_ mattered – I didn't particularly care, and apparently, neither did Scorpius. Thinking back to December, when I got sick and ended up on his bathroom floor, I shuddered. He had seen me in a far worse state and was still willing to snog me. That boy, come to think of it, didn't have any standards.

"Just in time," he said when I entered the kitchen. The moka pot was gurgling and hissing – a clear indicator that coffee was almost ready. Scorpius took two fancy looking cups and filled them. I pushed myself up to sit on the kitchen counter, letting my feet dangle and muttered a quick "Thanks", when I took the cup of coffee he handed me. He watched me, standing right in front of me, while I took my first sip. Then I remembered why I had ended up here in the first place.

"I still can't get over the fact that you beat me at chess."

"Serves you right. You were way too full of yourself last night, even for a Gryffindor."

"Touché," I mumbled into my cup, "apparently somebody had to throw me off that high horse."

He put his free hand on his chest and solemnly said, "Glad to be of service." I chuckled

"In my defense, I'm usually sober, when I play chess."

"So am I. Pathetic excuse for your mediocre performance." I directed a pointed look at him, although I knew he was joking.

Scorpius took another sip of his coffee and stared right back at me. His eyes fell on my lips, and his expression changed, as well as the air between us.

"It was fun, though. I enjoyed it – a lot." His voice sounded a bit hoarse, which I was very much aware of. I could tell that Wizard's chess was not the only thing he had on his mind. He stepped a little closer, his body brushing against my legs and knees. My heart started pounding a little bit faster.

"So did I. It was…quite… exciting." The tone of my voice sounded quite similar to his – a little husky, a little nervous – but I spoke in total honesty. As I said: I actually had enjoyed myself – it had just been a bit overwhelming.

"Yeah?"

When I nodded, Scorpius leaned forward, took the coffee cup out of my hand and put it next to me on the counter. All I could do was to stare at him. His hair was an unapologetic mess, and his eyes were piercing into mine, while the fingers of one hand brushed slightly against my elbow and my upper arm.

"I am really glad you stayed," he said softly. He smelled like mint and coffee.

"Me too," I had managed to press out, before I closed my eyes and he bent forward to kiss me.

It felt a bit different now that I was completely sober. I was definitely more aware of what was happening. Our movements were more tentative, slower, more explorative than before, and when his hands went up to cup my face, my legs opened up of their own account to make room for him to step even closer. Somehow I knew there was no need to fear that any of my boundaries would be disregarded. I felt comfortable, I felt… safe around him.

His hands found their way to my back, gently caressing it, while his lips started moving along my cheek, my jaw line, and finally down my exposed neck.

It was a shame we got interrupted, really. A loud crack broke us apart in an instance – it was a sign that somebody had just apparated into the kitchen, right next to us. I accidentally and ungracefully slipped off the counter, swearing loudly when I almost crashed onto the floor. Scorpius had steadied me and was now looking at me with a hint of panic. His head snapped towards the intruder.

"Master Scorpius! Happy New Year!"

He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath of relief, before turning towards the little house-elf that had emerged out of thin air. "Blimey Finley, you've almost given me a heart-attack - what are you doing here?"

"Finley is here to make Scorpius breakfast, of course."

Scorpius looked a bit puzzled. "But… I've given you the day off, haven't I?"

"You have, but it's a special day."

"I know, but…" Suddenly, he started frowning. "My mother has told you to take care of me, hasn't she?"

The little creature shifted from one foot to another and played with its own hand, before answering, "Mistress Astoria has told Finley to watch over Scorpius, but Finley doesn't mind." I held in a chuckle, but started smiling. That sounded like such a mum thing to do. Well, aside from my mum, life-long activist for the better treatment of house-elves, who would rather sell her left kidney than hiring one - that bit had never changed, albeit their situation had improved immensely since her dedication at the Ministry of Magic. I think Dad wouldn't have minded, really. He didn't think of it as a big deal, with all the benefits they had gotten. I secretly think he was right. Of course I would have never told Mum.

"My own mother does not believe in my abilities to feed myself," Scorpius mumbled to no one in particular, rubbing his temples lightly. "Finley, I am… very happy to see you, but… I think I'll be doing just fine today."

"But it's a special day," Finley the house-elf repeated.

"I know."

"And you have company!" He was now eyeing me with interest.

"Oh bollocks," Scorpius swore, looking back and forth between me and Finley.

"Finley, you can never, ever tell my parents that we had a visitor. Promise me that, please!"

Finley looked heartbroken. "But Master Scorpius, I cannot _lie_ to Mistress Astoria or Master Draco. Finley has been with the Greengrass family for years! Finley is a good elf!" He started pacing around the kitchen in panic.

"I don't expect you to lie, just… don't say anything."

"What if Mistress Astoria asks? Oh, what is Finley going to do?" he cried, running back and forth in agony. Scorpius watched Finley, trying desperately to come up with something to calm him down. It was almost comical, although I felt a bit sorry about the fact that I had brought myself, Scorpius and the little house-elf in this kind of predicament. Fortunately, I got the feeling that I could do something about that.

"Hello, Sir," I said and stepped forward, stretching my hand towards him, "I'm Rose Weasley, it's a pleasure to meet you." Finley stopped pacing and looked at me with big, blue eyes, while Scorpius looked at me in complete shock. He must have thought I had completely lost my mind. There he was, trying to do damage control, and I just walked all over his efforts. "I think you might have heard of my mother? Her name's Hermione Granger."

"Hermione Gra- …" he trailed off. Of course he had heard of Hermione Granger. Every house-elf across Magic Britain knew her face. Finley jumped excitedly and ran to shake my hand. "Hermione Granger's daughter – what an honor, Miss! Finley is delighted, what an honor!" The little creature seemed to be unable to let go off my hand.

A look of apprehension washed over Scorpius, and I said, "Finley, I'm sorry we put you in such a delicate position. This visit was not planned ahead. I apologize for any… inconvenience." I smiled innocently.

"Of course not, Miss! Do you like blackberries? Finley is going to make blackberry pancakes - they're Master Scorpius' favorite!" I thought I saw Master Scorpius blush slightly at that. Maybe I would have come up with a way to tease him about that, but I was preoccupied with Finley's invitation.

"Erm, I probably shouldn't-" I mumbled and gave Scorpius an insecure look.

"I insist, Miss!" Finley cried, started bustling around the kitchen and snipped his fingers. Different cupboards flew open and kitchen utensils hovered about. He had already started, suddenly not bothered at all by his previous inner turmoil.

Scorpius shrugged, and the corners of his lips pulled into a small grin "You got yourself into that," he said as he walked over to the table, and gave me an amused look. When he passed me, he leaned forward and whispered, "How very Slytherin of you - who would have thought that Rose Weasley could play dirty?"

"I know the perfect opportunity to play the Hermione Granger card, when I see it – and I have no scruples to use it," I mumbled back when I joined him at the table.

"I find nothing wrong with that – take it as a compliment." He then watched me thoughtfully. "January hasn't even properly started, and the two of you have already managed to scare me to hell and back," he stated, before summoning our coffee cups with a flick of his wand.

"Drama queen," I muttered.

"… says the one who has been whining constantly about a lost chess game."

"Oh, speaking of games…" I suddenly remembered the three different posters and banners of three different Quidditch teams back in his room and decided to ask him about them.

Scorpius shrugged and said, "No one ever told me that you're supposed to side with one team and one team only."

"I suppose I can't really argue with that."

He grinned. "The _Magpies_ have always been my mother's favorite team, the _Falcons_ my father's, and the _Harpies_ …" he trailed off, as his grinned widened. He looked rather boyish. "Well, I am a teenage guy – I'd say it's rather obvious why I like them."

I cut my eyes at him. "Oi! They've won three seasons in the last five years!"

"My point exactly. The fact that they're all really nice to look at is just a very welcome bonus."

"My cousin is one of their beaters. Just sayin'."

"What?" he exclaimed incredulously. "Weasley is… She looks nothing like you! She doesn't even have red hair."

"Well obviously she doesn't," I said and raised an eyebrow at him. Roxanne has dark skin and black hair, just like her mum. "So, what you're saying is, she's nice to look at and I am not?" I asked mischievously.

I was obviously teasing him, but couldn't quite handle his reaction, because he rolled his eyes and said, "Stop being an idiot, Weasley. I am not going to tell you that I think you're pretty, just because you're trying to be difficult. It's quite obvious that I do."

He then took another casual sip of his coffee, while I gaped at him, completely speechless. "What?" he asked and nudged my shin with his foot. His smirk had widened.

Finally, I pulled myself together and retaliated, "It's not my fault that you have very low standards."

"I suppose it's not."

We looked at each other, trying both to keep a straight face, but failing completely. Secretly, I wondered how it was possible to compliment and offend someone at the same time just the way Scorpius did. It was fascinating, to be honest – and also slightly endearing.

My thought process was interrupted by Finley, who happily announced that breakfast was almost ready, and a few minutes later, I was gorging myself on the most delicious blackberry pancakes I had ever eaten.

"Finley, this is delicious," I tried to say – which turned out to be a bit difficult with my mouth full. The house-elf wiggled his ears happily and beamed at me.

"Would you like some more, Miss Weasley?" he asked when I had finished my plate.

My eyes fell on the clock. "As amazing as this was, I think I'd better be going, before someone reports me as missing," I said jokingly. I wasn't necessarily afraid about my parents getting worried. Dom, Al and me often stayed at each other's place after a night out, and it was the day after New Year's Eve anyway – my parents were probably still asleep. Or at least my dad was. But I wasn't going to push my luck.

"Oh, right," Scorpius mumbled and got up to accompany me back to his room, where I had left my coat, and then back to the Floo.

"Thank you, Finley!" I called towards the kitchen.

"It was Finley's pleasure, Miss!" his squeaky voice called back.

Then I turned towards Scorpius and looked at him for a second. "Sorry for stealing your breakfast and leaving straight after, I know it's not the most polite thing to do," I said.

"Once again, Weasley - fake politeness-"

"- is not something you do, I know," I said.

Scorpius glared at me, clearly looking a bit annoyed. "Are we finishing each other's sentences now?"

"Disgusting, I know," I shuddered.

He laughed and stepped closer. When he bent down to kiss me once more, I met him halfway. I had no idea when I got to do that again, so in all honesty… Can you blame me? It felt as easy as breathing – just way more exciting. And when I felt one of his hands sneaking around my waist to rest on my lower back and he carefully bit my lower lip, I slightly arched into him in response. It was not intentional at all – it just happened. He pulled back slightly, only to lean towards my ear to whisper, "Sure you need to go?"

I noticed a familiar sensation in my lower abdomen. Something… fluttery, almost like something heating up down there. It was not new, but usually it was only my imagination that caused it, not a person in real life. My breath hitched slightly. "Yeah, I should," I muttered.

"A pity, really," he said and kissed me lightly, before stepping back completely. I recognized the look on his face from the night before.

"Thanks. For everything, I mean," I stuttered.

Scorpius grinned dazedly. "You're welcome."

I grabbed a handful of Floo powder and stepped into the fireplace, feeling a bit dizzy. "I'll see you at King's Cross," I managed to say.

"Looking forward to it."

And then I was gone.

* * *

My parents' house was unusually quiet, but it was not even ten in the morning after all. I only ran into my very knackered looking Dad when I had already come back out of my room with a bunch of fresh clothes and a towel. I was in desperate need of a shower. He yawned and hugged me lazily. "Morning, Rosie!"

"Happy New Year, Dad!"

He made a non-committal noise and went back to my parents' bedroom. I'm still grateful for the amount of trust they had in me.

I stepped into our bathroom and glanced at myself in the mirror. My lips looked slightly bruised, and my heart started pounding a little bit faster again when I thought back to the cause of that.

At that moment, my inner voice decided to unmute itself.

" _You know what? You should probably think about looking into contraceptive potions."_

Apparently it had learnt to compromise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think! Feedback and criticism is always appreciated.


	16. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I would have thought that we are on a first name basis by now," I said.
> 
> He shrugged. "We are. I just like calling you _Weasley_."

The memories of the aftermath of that chess game and everything that had come with it haunted me for the rest of the holidays.

That kiss in early December? No big deal. It hadn't thrown me off track – not in the grand scheme of things.

But after New Year's I had been up to my neck in trouble. Dominique had been right – I should have seen it coming. I might have been a late-bloomer (in comparison to her and Al) - be that as it may, but something had been ignited that night, and now I was a complete goner.

Why on Earth did Scorpius Malfoy have to be such a flirt?

"Rosie? Are you still in there somewhere?"

"What?" I answered absent-mindedly.

"I said there has been an owl for you," Dad told me.

"Oh, thanks," I desperately tried to shake my hormone-driven daydreams off my mind. So far no good. I don't know how many times I thanked the universe that it had never occurred to my parents to become _Legilimens_. I mean – sure, I had turned 18 in October. I was a grown-up, and I could do as I pleased, but still... _That_ would have been very uncomfortable.

I unfolded the little parchment Dad had handed me over. A single word had been scribbled onto it.

_Walk?_

"I'm heading over to Al," I said and went to grab my boots and a jacket. I had recognized his handwriting in an instance.

* * *

Al's opinion has always been very important to me, and I think that subconsciously, I had been dreading to tell him about me and Scorpius - whatever weird thing we had going at that point - because I had been scared of his reaction.

I should have known better. Al was his usual empathic self.

"Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm… fine," I answered.

"So, I presume Dominique has already managed to squeeze out every excruciating detail of New Year's?" he said while we walked around the quiet outskirts of Godric's Hollow. The winter sun had already started to set, and a light, frosty breeze rustled the naked branches of a nearby tree.

"You could say that," I mumbled.

Her owl had arrived during my chess match with Dad (which I had obviously lost).

_Hope you're alive – I barely survived. I will stop by tomorrow and shall be told everything. Consider this a warning. Dominique._

She had showed up first thing after breakfast the following morning. I hadn't minded. In fact, I had been incredibly happy to have someone to talk to about this. I just had wished that she had been a little less blunt and a little less smug about it. Dominique had barely made it through the door of my room and put up a silencing charm, before she had plumped down on my armchair and had asked me, "So. What's the current status? You haven't slept with him, have you?"

"Of course not," I had hissed. "We're not even dating."

She had smirked. "But you made out."

I had hesitated for a moment, but there was not really a point in beating around the bush anymore, was there? "We did."

"And it was not the first time, was it?"

"No, it wasn't– he had kissed me before."

"Back in December? When you got drunk?"

I had nodded, and her smirk had widened. "How was it?"

"It was…" I could feel the blood rush to my face. "…good?"

"Go on."

"New Year's got a little… a little," I had started stammering.

"A little intense?" Dominique had offered, grinning widely.

"Yeah, a little intense." _That will do._ "I haven't really thought about anything else ever since."

She had burst into laughter. "Who would have thought that _Scorpius Malfoy_ of all people had it in him to bring _that_ out of you?"

I had grimaced. "You're impossible!"

"And you, my friend, are horny." She had ducked her head when I had thrown my pillow at her. "No need to feel embarrassed, Rosie. He's actually rather cute." When I hadn't answered, she had continued, "Honestly? I think it's brilliant. You're finally letting your guard down. You seemed so… confident and feisty around him. I loved it."

That conversation had been a bit too overwhelming, honestly.

Al was way more discrete and a little more subtle about it.

"So, how did that chess game go for you?"

"I lost it. He had been right – I was way too full of myself. This is the first time this has ever happened to me."

Albus laughed. "Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" He looked at me calmly, taking a drag of the cigarette he had just lit. I could tell that there was a double meaning to his statement.

"I don't know how I got myself into… _this_. Whatever it is."

"Welcome to the club. We've all been there," Al grinned. We kept walking in silence, until he decided to ask me, "Do you fancy him?"

Somehow I had known that this question had been coming. I took a deep breath, before answering, "Kind of."

He raised one eyebrow, but said nothing – and all of a sudden I remembered the conversation about Al that Scorpius and I had had. _He doesn't really like me, does he?_ For some reason, and for a lack of better things to say, I told Al about it.

Al looked a bit confused. "I don't know him, but I'd say that I don't have any reason to mistrust him. He doesn't seem to be such a menace."

"He's not. Or at least I don't think he is… I mean, he can be a bit of an arrogant arse sometimes, but he's also… surprisingly considerate and incredibly funny. I like being around him."

Al looked at me thoughtfully. "You know, I actually meant what I said recently… I do think you're a great judge of character," he finally said. "If you're convinced that he's a good kid, then he probably is."

"Thanks," I muttered, feeling relieved.

"And if both of us are wrong, and he ends up stomping all over you, Dominique is going to hex his balls off. Simple as that," he added and winked at me.

"Someone has to have my back," I said, laughing at the idea. "Can you do me a favor, though? Could you keep this a secret? I haven't started overthinking this, and I'd rather keep it this way. I think it's easier when no one knows about this."

Al looked at me for a short while, before saying, "Sure, if that's what you want."

"Thanks. It is – for now, at least. I mean, I don't even know if anything like this is going to happen again," I added – without specifying what this meant exactly (and thankfully, Albus didn't care).

But if I was completely honest with myself, I already knew that New Year's had not been the last chapter of this story.

* * *

I blamed the upcoming NEWTs and Head Girl duties for feeling a bit fidgety about going back to Hogwarts.

"Rosie, you're even worse than your mum," Dad laughed as he took out Hugo's and my luggage out of the car. He had gotten better at recognizing emotional distress – he just wasn't very good at pinpointing the cause of it.

"I am not," I answered grumpily.

"Yes, you are," Hugo smirked and took his suitcase.

I had loved being back home, but I was also happy to go back to Hogwarts, which also felt like home after all. Dad had taken us to King's Cross – Mum couldn't make it, she had already gone to work that day. Work had gotten more stressful ever since she had started to work directly for Minister Shacklebolt – she was the shoo-in for the next Minister of Magic.

In retrospect, and if I'm completely honest with myself, I was happy to escape the trusting, yet watchful eyes of Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley - apart from the fact that I was secretly looking forward to meeting the fellow Head Boy again.

Hugo was off as soon as we had passed the barrier to platform 9 ¾, as if he was embarrassed to be seen with his parent. "Bye Dad!" he said as he waved at him, "I'm going to find my housemates!" Hugh turned around and disappeared in the thick smoke at the platform.

Dad shook his head bemusedly. "I almost forgot what it was like to be a 15-year old, moody teenager."

I grinned. "You were?"

"Your Uncle Harry was. My moodiness only kicked in one or two years later – we've both given your Mum a really hard time."

I tried to imagine my cheeky father and my Uncle Harry, probably the most laid-back person I had ever met, as grumpy, unhappy teenagers – and full-heartedly laughed at the idea.

"Speaking of Harry, he has to be around here somewhere…" Dad said and looked around, squinting at various groups of people, trying to find Uncle Harry's short figure and Aunt Ginny's ginger hair.

"Go and find them, then," I said and leaned in for a hug, "Thanks for the ride, Dad!"

He pulled me into his bear arms and hugged me tightly, "Sure thing, Rosie! Have fun at Hogwarts, and don't take your NEWTs classes too seriously."

I snorted.

My father pulled away and looked at me fondly. "I mean it, though. It's your last year – enjoy it."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll try," I said and kissed him on the cheek quickly, "I'm going to look for Albus and Dominique."

He wished me a good trip, squeezed my shoulder and waved me off, before I disappeared into the steam that was pouring from the Hogwarts Express.

At some point, I spotted Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny with Lily in a distant corner, but Albus was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Dominique.

In fact, the first 7th year student I bumped into, was Scorpius, just a minute after saying goodbye to Dad. Quite some timing we had going for us.

"Hello, Weasley."

"I would have thought that we are on a first name basis by now," I said.

He shrugged. "We are. I just like calling you _Weasley_."

I raised my eyebrows, but didn't question his comment – and relaxed significantly. There was something about his presence that made me feel a bit more grounded than I usually did, even when I still felt a bit fidgety - because I had this strange urge to drag him into a secluded corner and snog him senseless. Was that weird at all?

I tried to shake that fantasy, took a deep breath and said, "Suit yourself. How was Christmas break?"

"You mean apart from New Year's? Not as good as that, but fine," he said, suddenly grinning at me, and I almost regretted that I had asked, because I felt my cheeks grow incredibly hot. I nearly missed the slight pink color that had spread across his pale face as well.

"There you are, Rosie! I've been looking for you," Scorpius and I turned towards Dominique, who had suddenly appeared next to us. Somehow she always managed to show up at the most inconvenient moments _._ Her eyes fell on Scorpius, and then her mouth pulled into the most mischievous, cheeky smirk I had seen in a very long time. "Oh, never mind – hello, Malfoy. I will let you… get back to… Well, see you later."

I simply glared at her, but she waved back cheerfully and disappeared towards the Hogwarts Express.

_Perfect. Just splendid._

Scorpius looked after her skeptically, before nodding towards my luggage. "Do you want help with that?"

"Oh, erm… You don't have to-," I stammered.

"I know I don't have to – I am asking you if you want me to," Scorpius retaliated.

I was momentarily distracted by his confident nonchalance and the way his grey eyes pierced into mine. For a brief moment, I let my eyes wander across his features. Despite the winter weather, he didn't wear a cap that day, and his hair had been pulled up into a bun, leaving his ears slightly pink from the cold. Dom had been right – I found him rather cute as well.

"Sure," I finally said, "If you don't mind."

"Nope, I don't," Scorpius took my suitcase and gave me a last, lingering look, before heading towards a nearby train door.

"Not all," he added.

* * *

We had gotten back to Hogwarts on a Sunday, and the following week had been a rather… weird one.

"Rose, stop making it too obvious," Dominique whispered at me one evening during dinner in the Great Hall. She had caught me staring at the Slytherin table.

"Dom, give her a break," Al stated from the other side of the table. He had barely looked up from the book he had been reading, and I was fairly sure that he hadn't heard what she had said exactly. Felicitas, who sat next to him, looked rather confused about the comment, but I appreciated all the emotional support I got.

Dominique seemed slightly annoyed, but grinned anyway. "I'm right, though," she said and took a big bite of the chocolate brownie in her hand.

And yes – she was right.

I was acting like a weirdo, and I had no idea what to do about it. I was not used to this – at all. Usually she was the one drooling over a fellow student, not me. It was also a bit scary, especially since the behavior seemed to be mutual. I had noticed that Scorpius kept looking at me as well, whether in the Great Hall, while studying in the library or during the classes we shared.

All of that kind of culminated during Potions, when we stood next to each other while weighing the ingredients for _Murtlap Essence_ \- and although talking to him was as easy as breathing, I was scared to overstep any physical boundary there might have been. As if being at Hogwarts meant that things had gone back to normal - as if New Year's Eve had happened in a parallel universe that had nothing to do with the real world.

It was only at the end of the lesson, when Scorpius walked by my table. He had already finished up and was ready to leave, while I was still gathering my things.

"See you tomorrow night?" he asked.

I looked up and met his gaze, frowning slightly. "You mean for rounds?"

He nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I offered Davis to change patrol duties. I was signed up with some 5th Year from Hufflepuff, but I'd rather be… doing rounds with you," he said bluntly. "Do you mind?"

That cheeky rascal. Why hadn't I come up with that?

I didn't even bother to hide my grin. "Nope, I don't - not at all."

* * *

By the time Saturday evening arrived, I was a gleeful mess.

Much like the time in early December, after we had kissed for the first time, Scorpius and I stayed strictly professional during rounds. It was rather uneventful at first – it was a very quiet Saturday night, and people were usually not up for trouble after Christmas or Easter break.

Time still passed in a blur. Usually, neither one of us cared if we walked around in comfortable silence – but that night I just kept rambling. He didn't seem to mind though. We talked about the books we had read during the holidays and about my favorite Muggle movies – Scorpius had never seen any except for those we had discussed in Muggle Studies. I confessed that I would love to be better at drawing, but that I had always lacked the patience. Scorpius, on the other hand, turned out to have a thing for photography.

"What do you like about it?"

"I guess… I like capturing moments that otherwise would go by completely unnoticed. It's always the little details in pictures that fascinate me."

"That is… a much more eloquent answer than I expected."

"You've set the bar pretty low then, haven't you?" he asked teasingly. I didn't know him well enough back then to spot his discomfort that sometimes arose when he got complimented.

"There is no bar. I think it's perfectly fine to like things just for the sake of it. But I don't mind to be pleasantly surprised either," I retaliated. When he didn't answer, I asked, "Do you take pictures yourself?"

Scorpius hesitated for a moment. "Sometimes I do."

"Can I see them some day?" I had asked before I could stop myself.

He looked a bit taken aback at first, but a small smile spread across his features. "Sure, if you want to."

"I'd love to."

We had almost finished our rounds, when he said, "Can I ask you something?" I nodded. "You told me that you thought we're on first name basis – back at King's Cross. You stopped calling me _Malfoy_ at some point. Why is that?"

The question seemed a little odd – and the answer so obvious, yet I couldn't come up with a decent one. "I don't know. I didn't do it on purpose, it just sort of happened. I guess it felt weird at some point? As if you're-," I hesitated for a moment, "As if it felt too distant."

Also, it had come to my attention that I had started liking his first name, but I couldn't tell him that, could I?

He nodded anyway, and said, "I'm actually really glad you did, though."

"And you still call me Weasley," I said, frowning slightly.

Scorpius grinned. "Yep, cause it suits you. And I… just really get a kick out of saying it sometimes."

"That's… the first time anyone ever said something like that before."

"Do you mind, though?"

I had realized that he called me Rose when he tried to make a point – when he was serious and very sincere about something. The way he said _'Weasley'_ , on the other hand, had gotten a very different undertone. It was cheeky, almost flirty. I was not sure if he did it on purpose, but it had started to hit different.

"No, I don't. I actually kinda like the way you say it," I mumbled.

We looked at each other, the air between us filled with a certain kind of tension. Meanwhile he had reached our initial starting point.

"So," Scorpius said, "I'd say we're done with rounds, aren't we?"

"Yes, I'd say so," I breathed.

"Thank Merlin," he muttered and closed the gap between us. He met me so enthusiastically that I stumbled backwards. Scorpius arms caught me and snuck around my waist to rest on my back. I gasped against his lips and fisted his robes. It was utterly thrilling, and yet...

It was way past curfew, but there was an all too realistic chance that we got caught by anyone who decided to stroll around the castle on a quiet Saturday night.

"This feels a bit too public," I muttered in between kisses.

Scorpius was in no mood to be bothered about that – he simply nudged me towards the shadow of a nearby staircase.

"Better?" he asked.

"Slightly," I managed to breathe before I got shoved into the stone wall of the corridor. Apparently, I hadn't been wrong - all that pining over the previous week had been entirely mutual. Scorpius' movements were a bit frenzied, and I responded eagerly. He had one leg between mine, slightly pushing against me.

I had become painfully aware of the sensation lingering in my lower abdomen.

Scorpius seemed equally torn. His voice sounded a bit strangled when he stated, "You might be right about being too public right now. Do you want to go back? To one of our dorms, I mean?"

I exhaled. "Just... let me think about it for a minute."

He chuckled quietly and said, "Take all the time you need, Weasley." His lips moved down the side of my neck, sucking softly on my skin.

 _Merlin,_ I thought to myself. I desperately needed to talk to him, before I ended up as a puddle on the floor.

"Scorpius?"

"Hm?"

I took a deep breath, before continuing. I was a bit anxious to spill out what had been on my mind. "You know I've never... I've never done... _this_ before."

"I've already figured that much," he said and tilted his head up to look at me. "You've been pretty honest about it back on New Year's Eve."

"I know. And don't get me wrong... I like this – a lot actually. I just don't think I want to go... you know... all the way."

"If you don't want to go all the way, then we won't. I thought that was obvious," he retaliated, slightly frowning. His hand moved up to brush away a stubborn curl of hair that had escaped my ponytail.

And although I already knew that much about him, I couldn't help feeling a little relieved. I shrugged, before saying, "Consider it a pre-emptive warning, in case girls before me have set the bar too high - I probably suck at this."

"Stop being an idiot, Weasley," he laughed. "That's not possible. Not when you kiss like that," he added grinningly. "And although I find it quite flattering that you seem to be vastly overestimating my experience with women, let me assure you that I don't do this on a regular basis. You're definitely overthinking this." He sounded bemused and genuine at the same time.

In retrospect, I'd say that neither one of us was particularly good at this, but there was a certain level of trust between Scorpius and me that made it work for both of us - that and the fact that we both had become brutally honest with each other.

Scorpius took two small steps back and offered me his hand, "So, what are you saying?"

I paused for a moment, before I took it and asked, "My dorm or yours?"

He beamed at me, looking a lot like a kid that just got to open an early Christmas present. "The one that's closer?"

"Mine, then."

Well, I was definitely going to get too friendly with him. _I might as well do that in private._


	17. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I knew there was nothing to be scared of. He had stopped before, and I knew he would do it this time, whenever and wherever I drew the line. Until then, I could let myself fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've changed the rating to M, specifically because of this chapter. 
> 
> I'd say, smut is a bit of a tightrope walk - as a reader, I am very picky about it, and certainly not into anything too graphic.  
> Maybe you're the same.  
> Maybe you're not into reading smut at all.  
> Maybe you have your own ideas about what first experiences, and especially between those two characters, look like - and like to keep it that way. 
> 
> If, for whatever reason, you're not into reading scenes like this, I'll be happy to see you around for the next chapter. You won't miss anything relevant to the plot itself, I promise.
> 
> If you're interested to see my take on it and if you're up to giving it a chance, let me know what you think.

We barely made it through the door of my dorm – his lips were back on mine as soon as I had pushed it closed. Scorpius walked us towards my bed, and I complied willingly. I knew there was nothing to be scared of. He had stopped before, and I knew he would do it this time, whenever and wherever I drew the line. Until then, I could let myself fall.

I lay down and pulled him with me. The faintest hint of a smile grazed his features, before he leant over me and closed the distance between us. His right hand brushed against my knee, wandered up my upper thigh and came to rest between my legs. I gasped slightly.

“Too much?”

I shook my head, pressed my lips against his and tilted my hips to meet his hand.

I could tell that he was smirking. He was most definitely enjoying this.

“Not to be an arse,” he then mumbled, “but this would be way easier if you took your jeans off. I’m just saying.”

I only hesitated a moment, before I started fidgeting with the button and zipper of my pants. I think I took him by surprise – especially when my hand moved towards the hem of his trousers as well, after I had pulled mine down. He looked a little bit shocked.

“What?” I asked. “I don’t really see why I should be the only one with my pants off.”

“Fair enough,” he answered and shook off his black jeans as well. 

My gaze fell onto his green boxers.“Slytherin colours? Seriously?” I asked, frowning at him.

Scorpius only chuckled and bent down to meet my lips again, while his hand found its way back to my underwear, drawing circles over the thin fabric. I felt my cheeks grew hot when I realized that it must have probably been soaked ever since he had pushed me against that wall back in the corridor.

And although I enjoyed everything that was going on, it did not feel quite right.

As if my body craved something else.

A different angle, maybe.

I broke the kiss and pulled back.

“Are you alright?” His breathing had become a bit shallow.

We had been there before. The last time I had been a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation, but this time… I felt quite fine.

More than fine actually.

“Yes, I am, but do you… Do you mind if I… take the lead for a second?”

The corners of his lips pulled into a grin. “Not at all,” he answered and leant back, propping himself up with his hands, waiting for me to make a move.

I sat up and looked at him for a few seconds, his grey eyes watching me patiently. Then, I slowly climbed into his lap, straddling him. Scorpius inhaled sharply when I sat down, bodies now aligned perfectly, with nothing but a barrier of grey panties and green boxers between us.

 _Now we’re talking,_ I thought to myself. Meanwhile my breathing had started to sound a little off.

I was floating, completely lost in the moment. My body had started moving on its own accord, arching against him, my hips slightly rocking and my head bent down to kiss him again. One of his hands slipped under my t-shirt, his fingers brushing against the bare skin on my back. Carefully, I bit his bottom lip and sucked it lightly, like he had done before. He groaned and grabbed my hips, meeting my movements with his.

We were both pretty much out of breath, when he broke away and spoke up. “Rose, I… if you… if we keep this up, I’m going to-“ Scorpius trailed off, and I was already too far down the road to second-guess what I was doing.

I think I had only half-realized what Scorpius had been trying to say, until he started panting. He hugged me tightly and buried his face in the crook of my neck, lips open against my skin. I got pulled out of my frenzy, when his body started shuddering.

I froze, but when his breathing became steady and he loosened his grip, I leant back again to watch him.

“Did you just…?”

He let his back fall against the wall behind him and looked at me with clouded eyes. Then, he shot me a very shy, yet incredibly boyish and endearing grin. “Get off? Yeah.”

That sobered me up pretty quickly.

“I-… Really?”

Scorpius nodded. “Does that - … Is that weird for you?”

“No, I’m just… surprised. I mean - does that happen? Just like that?” I asked incredulously.

He looked at me bemusedly and shrugged, before answering, “Sometimes it does.”

“Interesting.” That was all I could come up with.

Scorpius laughed at that. “To answer your question more specifically: It just sort of happens, when you don’t do this often and you’re not used to- … Well, I told you I don’t do this on a regular basis. I’m nowhere near used to a girl in her underwear straddling me. And - in my defense - I tried to warn you. I just got sidetracked by you.”

I think I blushed at that.

He was right of course. I had just straddled a teenage boy and snogged him fiercely - without my pants on. What had I expected exactly?

“Just for the record – I think that was rather brilliant. And you didn’t even take your t-shirt off,” he added, grinning widely.

I mumbled something incoherent.

“I mean it,” Scorpius said sincerely and nudged my nose with his, while his fingers trailed patterns on my upper arm.”Erm… You don’t happen to have a pair of clean boxer shorts lying around, do you?” he then asked coyly, which drew my attention away from his bruised lips.

“In fact, I do.” I stood up and started rummaging through my drawer. When I found a pair of navy blue boxershorts I had borrowed (and never returned) from one of my dozen cousins once, I took them out and tossed them across the room towards Scorpius.

He caught them and raised an eyebrow at me.

“What? They’re comfortable to sleep in!”

He just grinned and got up to disappear into my bathroom, while I crawled back into bed and suddenly realized how exhausted I was. My eyes had fluttered shut before Scorpius got back and lay down beside me.

“Are you tired?”

“As hell,” I said and yawned, providing further evidence.

“I guess that answers my question if you want me to pick up where I left off, before you climbed into my lap.”

I took a deep breath to calm my beating heart, before answering, “Save it for another time.”

“I will,” he said, “and thanks, by the way.”

I half-opened my eyes and looked at him. “For what?”

“I think you know,” Scorpius said, voice full of mischief, and he had the audacity to smirk at me. Then, he bent forward to kiss my forehead, my nose, and – finally – my lips again.

He was such an unapologetic rascal.

A very adorable one, that is.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, if you just stumbled upon this story. 
> 
> You might have seen this posted somewhere else. I'm using this as an opportunity to go back to old chapters, work on obvious grammar issues and other things that have been bothering me obnoxiously. After all, I started out when I was just a teenager. Baby Anna Elephant had a very different perspective on many things regarding relationships and growing up in general.  
> Feedback is always very welcome and appreciated.


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